GORDON WANTS TO LOOK INTO MILLIONS OF DOLLARS BROUGHT INTO PH BY CHINESE NATIONALS; BLUE RIBBON PROBE TO START NEXT WEEK

Senator Richard J. Gordon, Chairman of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee, stated Friday that an investigation on the influx of Chinese nationals in the Philippines might be scheduled next week.

"We're still preparing for the hearing. Mga next week, I'm going to call a hearing just to start it para may quorum ako. I just said, I'm going to look into it, but I'm not making any judgement," Gordon said in an interview.

Gordon also expressed concern over "inordinate amount of money" being brought into the country by the Chinese. He said, there are about $180 million in cash that was transported from China from December 2019 to February this year.

"That's too much. Sa Hong Kong nila dinadala kase walang currency control. AMLA (Anti-Money Laundering Act) should check. They declared it so, dapat lang, i-check nila. It could go to the banking system, it could go to the casino, and how much thousands are being paid by the casinos kung ganyan kalaki ang volume?" Gordon said.

Based on the records of the Bureau of Customs (BOC), the Chinese who brought huge amount of money claimed that they would use it for travel and casino, while others said, they would expend it for investments.

"This is very alarming. So many foreigners are coming into the country with this huge amount of money. Definitely, this is money laundering. It's tragic that we have an anti-money laundering law, but our country is used by other people," Gordon said.