FILE – In this Oct. 13, 2016 file photo, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump delivers a speech in Columbus, Ohio. The state’s role this year shapes up to be potential spoiler for Trump’s chances of reaching 270 electoral votes. While Hillary Clinton appears to have paths to the total needed for election without Ohio, the state’s 20 votes are considered crucial for Trump. AP Photo/ Evan Vucci
The congressman who earlier filed a resolution seeking to bar Donald Trump from entering the country warned that the newly elected US president’s protectionist policy could hurt the Philippines’ interests, particularly on the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry.
Albay Rep. Joey Salceda issued a statement on Wednesday to give his views on Trump’s US election victory.
READ: Donald Trump elected US president
“No need to waste emotions, anyway probably, Duterte was right in separating from the US after all. I just pray now for the best for the US and the world economy,” Salceda said.
Salceda said Republican interests might hurt the country, especially with Trump’s hard stance on focusing jobs to the United States that could possibly endanger the business of American BPO companies in the Philippines.
“Republicans are bad for Philippine interests. In the case of Trump: First, his protectionism promises to bring jobs back to America. Well, American companies still need to optimize our BPO potential; American firms need Filipino talent. We are competitive,” Salceda said.
Salceda said he could only hope that Trump’s anti-immigration stance would result into the legalization of the citizenship of over 360,000 Filipino illegal immigrants or TNT (“tago nang tago”).
“His anti-immigrant posture commits to deport all illegal immigrants – some 360,000 TNTs – I hope will provide a pathway to citizenship,” Salceda said
He also feared that the US might not pay for the damages for its role in the changing climate, especially because Trump had claimed climate change is a hoax.
“So, now, who would pay for the storm damages America created?” Salceda said.
Salceda also lamented Trump’s plan to build a wall to keep out immigrants, which would affect the entry of Filipinos to the US, as well as the entry of different nationalities that earned the US a diverse pool of talents.
“On a global perspective, the US accounts for 400 of the 900 Nobel Laureates, 80 percent of the best universities (THE or QS), and being an open society, openness to immigration has helped it acquire the best of the world’s talents,” Salceda said.
“Closing the doors, building walls may undermine this major source of global innovation. Thus, endanger the source of global growth, thus affect the Philippines which has $16 billion trade (surplus of $1.5 billion), 782,000 tourists,” he added.
Salceda earlier filed a house resolution refusing Trump entry to the Philippines after the then US presidential candidate lumped the Philippines as among the terrorist nations being allowed to enter America.
Salceda cried foul over Trump calling these immigrants, or a potential pool of terrorists, as “animals.”
READ: Trump lumps PH with terror states
In seeking to bar Trump’s entry to the Philippines, Salceda cited Bureau of Immigration rules that bar the entry of foreigners who “clearly generated impressions not conducive to public good and [have] shown disrespect or [made] offensive utterances to the Filipino people.”
Salceda added that Trump’s “unrepentantly negative, dysfunctionally nativist, aggressively adversarial attitude” toward Filipinos was dangerous.
READ: Trump’s terrorist tag on PH sparks backlash