PH begins stamping Chinese passports despite ‘propaganda’ sea map

Christian V. Esguerra, ABS-CBN News

<h3>PH begins stamping Chinese passports despite ‘propaganda’ sea map</h3>MANILA (UPDATE)—The Philippine immigration bureau announced Wednesday it would resume stamping passports of visiting Chinese nationals, following Manila’s reversal of a 7-year-old policy protesting Beijing’s expansive maritime claim.Immigration officers were instructed to now place arrival and departure stamps next to Philippine visas on Chinese passports, Commissioner Jaime Morente said in a statement.President Rodrigo Duterte earlier gave the go signal to stamp Philippine visas on such passports even if they were printed with a map showing Beijing’s nine-dash line. The Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague had invalidated this doctrine, which Beijing is using to claim more than 85 percent of the resource-rich South China Sea.In 2012, the Aquino administration protested the nine-dash line prints on the e-passports, opting to have Philippine visas placed on a separate document.“We support this policy update of the DFA,&quot; Morente said. &quot;In the past, we also expressed security concerns over the old practice because sheets of papers can easily be lost.”<div>TIT FOR TAT</div>Last August, Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. said Philippine visas would now show the map of the “entire Philippine EEZ to its widest extent, including Benham Rise along with other territorial claims.”“So tit for tat,” he tweeted then.China’s nine-dash line images on its passport have no “legal effect” and whose “value is for propaganda purposes” only, said lawyer Jay Batongbacal, director of the University of the Philippines’ Institute for Maritime Affairs and Law of the Sea.“It’s fair game,” he told ABS-CBN News.“You counter act propaganda with your own propaganda in a way, but this time, at least, the Philippine stamp is reflective of the truth. It’s reflective as well of what is legal in international law.”

The Philippine immigration bureau announced Wednesday it would resume stamping passports of visiting Chinese nationals, following Manila’s reversal of a 7-year-old policy protesting Beijing’s expansive maritime claim.

The Philippine immigration bureau announced Wednesday it would resume stamping passports of visiting Chinese nationals, following Manila’s reversal of a 7-year-old policy protesting Beijing’s expansive maritime claim.

PH begins stamping Chinese passports despite ‘propaganda’ sea map | ABS-CBN

Halalan 2025

Entertainment

News

Metro.Style

Lifestyle

Sports

More

Traffic

Horoscope

News

PH begins stamping Chinese passports despite ‘propaganda’ sea map

PH begins stamping Chinese passports despite ‘propaganda’ sea map

Christian V. Esguerra,

ABS-CBN News

Published Nov 06, 2019 11:48 AM PHT

|

Updated Nov 06, 2019 12:12 PM PHT

Read More:

China

Bureau of Immigration

arrival stamp

departure stamp

sea dispute

West Philippine Sea

South China Sea

ABS-CBN is the leading media and entertainment company in the Philippines, offering quality content across TV, radio, digital, and film. Committed to public service and promoting Filipino values, ABS-CBN continues to inspire and connect audiences worldwide.

Corporate

Investors

Governance

International Distribution

Corporate

Governance

Investors

International Distribution

NPC Seal of Registration

Privacy Policy

AI Policy

Terms of Service

Advertise with Us

© 2025 ABS-CBN Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

NPC Seal of Registration

Privacy Policy

Terms of Service

AI Policy

Advertise with Us

© 2025 ABS-CBN Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

NPC Seal of Registration

Privacy Policy

Terms of Service

AI Policy

Advertise with Us

© 2025 ABS-CBN Corporation. All Rights Reserved.