Nearly 100 student groups ban China envoy

MANILA, Philippines — Amid the decision of the Chinese embassy to prohibit certain officials and personalities from visiting China, close to a hundred student organizations and youth leaders nationwide declared Chinese Ambassador Jing Quan banned from Philippine schools.

Various groups led by the Student Council Alliance of the Philippines (SCAP) and Akbayan Youth vowed to mobilize big protests should Jing set foot on their campuses and bring “China’s threats and false narratives into their educational institutions.”

In a joint statement, the student and youth groups said that they would not allow educational institutions to become platforms for a foreign aggressor to undermine Philippine sovereignty.

“Our schools must remain spaces for learning, critical inquiry, and the defense of truth, freedom, and national dignity. They must never be used as platforms for intimidation or for advancing narratives that threaten Philippine sovereignty and our territorial integrity,” the statement read.

Akbayan Youth national chairperson Khylla Meneses said Jing should not be welcomed into Philippine schools while China continues to threaten the country and harass Filipino fisherfolk and frontliners in the West Philippine Sea.

The students and youth groups also called on school and university administrations to stand with their students in defending national sovereignty and academic freedom.

Among the schools where student leaders have declared Jing banned are the University of the Philippines in Diliman, UP Cebu, UP Baguio, Ateneo de Manila University, Ateneo de Zamboanga University, Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila, Polytechnic University of the Philippines, Universidad de Manila, Philippine Normal University, Taguig City University, University of Caloocan City, Arellano University, University of San Carlos, Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Muntinlupa, Rizal Technological University, Central Luzon State University, Bulacan State University, Pampanga State University, Holy Angel University, Palawan State University, Cavite State University, Adamson University and Mindanao State University-General Santos City.

What approval?

Philippine Coast Guard spokesman on West Philippine Sea issues Rear Admiral Jay Tarriela yesterday debunked the Chinese embassy’s statement that the military’s latest rotation and resupply mission to Ayungin Shoal was made possible through China’s “approval.”

“The Philippines did not ask for, and does not need anyone’s ‘approval’ to resupply our own troops aboard BRP Sierra Madre at Ayungin Shoal. The Oct. 21 mission was a sovereign act of the Philippine government inside our own exclusive economic zone,” Tarriela posted on X.

China Coast Guard spokesman Jiang Lue, in a statement posted by the Chinese embassy on Facebook, said “The China Coast Guard inquired and verified the Philippine vessel conducting the delivery, and monitored the whole process.”– Michael Punongbayan, Pia Lee-Brago, Andrew Ronquillo