THE warning issued by China’s Ministry of Education to Chinese planning to pursue studies in the Philippines is “baseless,” said Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief General Nicolas Torre III said on Monday, July 21, 2025.
In a press conference, Torre expressed confidence in the country’s stable security situation.
“Definitely, walang basis kasi kung mapansin niyo ngayon, wala na ‘yung mga malalaking krimen eh. In the past few months, I am very sure you will agree with me na wala tayong nakikita na may mga pagbaba ng barko ay inaarmalite ‘yung tao; sa gitna ng Commonwealth may ina-armalite na government official, wala nang ganun. ‘Yung may mga kidnap victim na kini-cremate or their own kini-cremate ng mga kidnapper, wala na tayong nakikitang mga ganun. Ang mga nakikita natin krimen ngayon ginagawang krimen, nangyayaring krimen naso-solve ng PNP,” he said.
(Definitely, there’s no basis for that because, if you notice, those big crimes are no longer happening. In the past few months, I’m very sure you will agree with me that we no longer see incidents where people are being shot with high-powered firearms upon disembarking from ships, or government officials being shot in the middle of Commonwealth Avenue — those no longer happen. Cases where kidnap victims are cremated by their kidnappers — we no longer see those. The crimes we are seeing now are being solved by the PNP.)
Torre hits back at China, noting that several Chinese nationals were using the Philippines as a “battle ground,” citing several incidents where both the suspects and the victims were Chinese nationals.
“Yan ang gusto ko lang i-emphasize. Well at the end of the day, nakita niyo naman sa ngayon. Maraming propaganda, maraming naglalabasang mga statements designed to shape a narrative,” he said.
(That’s what I just want to emphasize. Well, at the end of the day, you can see it for yourselves. There’s a lot of propaganda and many statements coming out that are clearly designed to shape a narrative.)
“So ang nakikita natin, we respect the opinion of the Chinese officials pero isa ang maliwanag dito na nakikita natin sa bansa natin, nag-aaway away rito Chinese ang biktima, Chinese ang perpetrator, kaya we are being used as a battleground na hindi naman natin papayagan na ipagpapatuloy nila. So at the end of the day, we are doing everything to stop this narrative, to stop this situation and we are now showing the results. Ang ating mga naaresto Chinese suspects. Ang kanilang mga biktima Chinese nationals din,” he added.
(What we see here is that we respect the opinion of the Chinese officials, but one thing is clear — here in our country, it’s Chinese against Chinese; the victims are Chinese, and the perpetrators are also Chinese. That’s why we are being used as a battleground, and we will not allow this to continue. At the end of the day, we are doing everything to put an end to this narrative, to stop this situation, and we are now showing results. Those we have arrested are Chinese suspects, and their victims are also Chinese nationals.)
Police intelligence operatives arrested over the weekend in Tawi-Tawi Wang Dan Yu, also known as Bao Long, 28, the suspect in the killing of Chinese businessman Liu Jiabin, following a verbal altercation in a restaurant in Makati City.
Wang was also tagged as the brains in the kidnapping of a 14-year-old Chinese student in Bonifacio Global City, Taguig City in February and in the kidnap-for-ransom of a Chinese acupuncturist in Manila in August 2022.
Two Chinese nationals were also identified as the mastermind in the sensational kidnap-for-ransom and murder of Chinese businessman Anson Que in April.
Que was killed by the suspects despite paying millions worth of ransom.
Over the past years, the PNP-Anti Kidnapping Group (AKG) recorded several kidnapping-for-ransom incidents involving Chinese nationals, especially those involved in the now defunct Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators.
On Friday, July 18, China’s Ministry of Education cautioned Chinese students planning to pursue studies in the Philippines, noting that the security situation in the country has been recently unstable, with a surge in crimes targeting Chinese nationals.
In a separate statement on Sunday, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said the advisory “mischaracterizes the situation in the Philippines,” expressing concerns over the “inaccuracies” through diplomatic channels.
“All instances of crimes, including those involving Chinese and other foreign nationals, as well as those perpetrated by foreign nationals against their own, are being addressed by relevant law enforcement authorities,” the DFA said.
“The Philippine Government has been engaging with foreign embassies, including the Chinese Embassy, regarding these cases in good faith,” it added.
The DFA expressed hope that China would issue corrections.
“The Philippines remains committed to constructively discussing matters of mutual concern with China,” the DFA said. (TPM/SunStar Philippines)