By Junex Doronio

MANILA — Alarmed by the entry of some Chinese nationals into the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) auxiliary force in the face of China’s incursions in the West Philippine Sea, Surigao del Norte Representative Robert Ace Barbers on Sunday (24 March 2024) urged the PCG to stop recruiting Chinese nationals.

Barbers pointed out that logically, the PCG should not be recruiting other nationalities into its forces even if they serve as volunteers during times of disaster and help donate in relief operations.

“Magandang mayroong mga volunteers diyan sa PCG. Pero it doesn’t make sense na nagre-recruit tayo ng hindi natin kalahi para dito sa operation. Kaya ng ‘Philippine Coast Guard’ eh, hindi naman sinabing Philippine and Chinese Coast Guard ‘yan,” the Surigaonon lawmaker said in his interview with Super Radyo dzBB.

He said in a recent congressional hearing that the Chinese auxiliary members of the PCG may be performing “spying duties in the guise of being auxiliary force members.”

But PCG spokesperson Rear Admiral Armand Balilo maintained that there was no strong basis on which to conclude that these Chinese nationals recruited into the auxiliary force were spies.

He claimed that the PCG had a vetting process when the Chinese applied.

Balilo said that the Chinese have been helping the Coast Guard for a long time but for humanitarian assistance and donations only.

Pending the formal investigation into the matter, Barbers stressed that the PCG should stop the recruitment process first for other nationals who want to serve in the auxiliary force.

“Ako’y nananawagan sa officers ng ating PCG na medyo makonsensya tayo ng konti at itigil natin muna ang paggamit o pag-recruit nitong mga Chinese nationals. Number two, habang patuloy ang imbestigasyon dito, dapat i-terminate muna ang mga ‘yan. Wag munang paalisin dahil papatawag natin ‘yan sa Kongreso ‘pag nag-umpisa tayo ng hearing,” Barbers said.

Political pundits told Maharlika NuMedia that the Chinese nationals in the PCG auxiliary force could be the proverbial Trojan Horse.

According to Wikipedia, the term “Trojan horse” is used metaphorically to mean any trick or strategy that causes a target to invite a foe into a securely protected place; or to deceive by appearance, hiding malevolent intent in an outwardly benign exterior; to subvert from within using deceptive means.

(el Amigo/MNM)

By Dang Samson Garcia

SURIGAO Del Norte Representative Robert Ace Barbers filed a resolution directing the House Committee on Public Accounts to conduct an investigation, in aid of legislation, on the alleged misuse of funds and mismanagement of the Surigao del Norte State University.

House Resolution 1319 also seeks a review of all the contracts and appointments signed by University President Gregorio Gamboa Jr.

The resolution was based on complaints of faculty members and students, which reached Barber’s office, that Gamboa disregarded shared governance policies and practices of the school.

The resolution indicated that the Commission on Audit report for 2022 showed that there were irregularities in the school’s financial transactions.

Barbers said that SNSU is the first and only state university in the province, thus, allegations of irregularities must be investigated.

By Liezelle Soriano

HOUSE Committee on Dangerous Drugs chairperson Rep. Robert Ace Barbers said on Monday that the amount of illegal drugs seized under the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has already reached P30 billion.

During the resumption of the investigation into the P6.7 billion drug seizure in Manila in October 2022, Barbers said that the P30 billion in illegal substances consisted of 4.4 tons of shabu and nearly three tons of dried marijuana leaves.

“Within the last five weeks, authorities were able to nab 1.3 tons of illegal drugs. And for the last one and a half years of the (Marcos) administration, the street value of these nabbed illegal drugs are already worth at least P30 billion,” Barbers said.

“This amount can most definitely finance the elections and victory of drug lords in our political arena. Such war chest is even enough to fund a presidential campaign,” he added.

The lawmaker added that the country has law enforcement personnel who do their jobs with integrity, “even if there are bad apples within their ranks,” adding these bad apples should not win.

Barbers added: “We will thresh out the whys and hows our country continues to be the favorite destination of illegal drugs and who are the big personalities or even bigger entities behind these shipments to flood us with these contrabands with fictitious and non-existent consignees.”

(ai/mnm)