Tinio condemns Teodoro over conspiracy vs Chinese-Filipino schools

ACT Teachers Partylist Rep. Antonio Tinio challenged the insinuations of Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro claiming that Chinese-Filipino educational institutions were being used as a platform for Chinese espionage.

The lawmaker said that Teodoro’s recent statements had “led to the exodus of around 150 volunteer teachers from China over concerns for their safety” and showed how the current administration intended to treat the Chinese-Filipino community moving forward.

“Not just schools but civic organizations may be subjected to surveillance and policing by the national defense establishment and law enforcement on national security grounds,” Tinio said.

The statements that the ACT Teachers representative was referring to were the statements of the Defense secretary during a media forum conducted last 1 October.

Teodoro detailed that he had received information that China had made use of Chinese schools and the teacher-exchange program to “penetrate” Filipino society through establishing “Confucius societies and associations” in the country.

“We have seen, too, information regarding the use of these educational exchanges to gain a foothold into the Philippines in order for them to scope for information,” he stated.

Considering the claims, Tinio said that “Teodoro’s pronouncements rely upon, amplify, lend credence, and provide government authority” when it came to the reports that were formulated by the SeaLight project and its founder retired US Air Force Col. Ray Powell.

Powell had earlier linked Chinese schools to a scheme that involved the United Front Work Department of the Communist Party of China, stating how teachers that participate in the teacher-exchange program allegedly served as “conduits” for “malign influence.”

The lawmaker, for his part, argued that the same could be applied to the work of Powell as he noted that the US Navy's Office of Naval Research had sponsored the creation of the Stanford University’s Gordian Knot Center for National Security Innovation which launched SeaLight.

Highlighting the links that Powell sought to establish, Tinio said that the same could be applied to his own affiliations, arguing that it too was an “interference in behalf of a foreign government.”

“We urge Mr. Powell to make the necessary disclosures every time he speaks to a Filipino audience. This should include as well any basis for his claims of expertise,” he stated.

“Transparency should apply to all,” he stressed.

Tinio acknowledged that the claims of the Chinese government against the maritime rights of the Philippines had to be properly addressed, however, he emphasized that such measures should not be carried out with “slavish subservience to the mouthpieces of US hegemony."

He asserted that the Department of National Defense had no hand in supervising schools around the country–as the responsibility was entrusted to the Department of Education and the Commission on Higher Education.

“Teodoro should show respect for Tsinoys and their loyalty to our nation instead of echoing Powell. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be the first time that a Filipino Defense Secretary danced to the tune of an American colonel,” the lawmaker said.