In late May, the case involving foreign workers at the Philippine DITO Telecommunications Company caught attention, where 39 Chinese technicians detained by the Bureau of Immigration were released on June 9. Notably, the release order was signed by Joel Anthony Viado, the current head of the Philippine Bureau of Immigration, who is under investigation.
According to insiders, these Chinese nationals were taken from the DITO headquarters in the BGC area of Taguig City on May 29 and were not formally transferred to the immigration detention center but were "temporarily placed" in an air-conditioned conference room at the headquarters of the Bureau of Immigration, raising questions about their treatment.
Previously, internal personnel of the Bureau had anonymously reported Viado to President Marcos, accusing him of abuse of power and improper connections with related Chinese-funded enterprises in handling this case. Despite facing investigation, Viado still signed the release order for these personnel on June 9.
In response, DITO Company emphasized that the individuals taken were not its employees, but from three Chinese-funded enterprises with technical cooperation agreements with DITO, including Futurenet Technology Corp., China Communications Services Philippines Corp., and AP Advisory Inc.
The lawyers of the Chinese technicians also publicly stated that these individuals were only performing short-term technical tasks related to DITO, and were not involved in illegal employment or long-term labor arrangements.
This incident not only raises questions about the fairness of immigration enforcement in the Philippines but also reignites discussions in various social sectors about the role of foreign capital in the national telecommunications infrastructure. The Department of Justice has yet to issue a new statement on this case, and some senators have proposed holding a hearing to thoroughly investigate the case and examine the transparency and accountability mechanisms of the current law enforcement process.
