Yesterday in the House of Representatives, Congressman Walden Bello, who chairs the chamber’s Committee on Overseas Workers Affairs, called on the government not to allow entry of Chinese using the PRC e-passport.

Rep. Bello noted that the 9-dash map in the Chinese e-passports incorrectly shows China has jurisdiction over West Philippine Sea islands and features that are within our country’s 200 nautical-mile exclusive economic zone as defined by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Seas (UNCLOS).

He said such Chinese e-passports are only valid in so far as sovereign nations are willing to recognize it. China’s latest move is an affront to the Filipino people and nation who, unfortunately, Mr. Bello believes, welcome Chinese tourists indiscriminately.

He said, in a statement, “The best way to send the message across that the government does not tolerate China’s belligerence and irrationality is by refusing to recognize the validity of the newly issued Chinese e-passports. President Aquino must exercise the sovereign right, the power, to refuse to recognize these travel documents.”

Mr. Bello urged the President to immediately order the Departments of Foreign Affairs and Justice, the Bureau of Immigration and other relevant agencies to prohibit the granting of visas to people using the Chinese e-passport decorated with the offensive 9-dash map.

“The only way that Chinese authorities would take the Philippine government seriously is by sending a strong statement such as the refusal to honor the new e-passport,” the statement said.

“Our message should be loud and clear: the Chinese government may have the sovereign right to decorate their passports in any way they wish, but so long as they refuse to respect our sovereignty, then we will use the power to refuse to honor their passports,” Mr. Bello said. He added that “such antics” only show that China has no firm basis for its claims over the Kalayaan Island Group and the West Philippine Sea.

He closed his statement with the exhortation that “We must protect our claims and treat them in precisely the same manner that they have treated us: by disregarding their authority and their sovereignty.”

We share the righteous indignation and patriotic sentiments of Congressman Bello, one of the best in the House. But we favor the pragmatic attitude of the DFA.

Foreign spokesman Raul Hernandez said yesterday that, despite the protest through a note verbale against the Chinese government’s insulting act, “visa processing for Chinese ePassport continues on its normal course.”