Robredo: Chinese workers in Palawan a ‘huge insult’

PUERTO PRINCESA CITY, Philippines — The presence of some 260 Chinese nationals in Palawan with special working permits is “a huge insult to Filipinos,” Vice President Leni Robredo said during her visit in this city for the Southern Luzon Area Business Conference on Thursday.

No proper working visas

The Department of Labor and Employment is monitoring the Chinese nationals who are in the city under special working permits.

Earlier this year, the city government probed the operations of Octofox IT Solutions, suspected to be behind an illegal online gambling operation.

The Chinese workers are brought into the country without proper working visas and are staying in 12 different hotels and inns.

But majority of the owners and managers involved in the accommodations deny catering to these Chinese workers’ illegal activities.

“If it’s illegal in their country, why do we let them do it here?” Robredo said in an interview.