Chinese immigrants to the Philippines

IN last week's column ("A convoluted anti-China narrative," TMT, July 12, 2024), I compared the situation today with the 17th century, when the fledgling Spanish colonial state in the country was haunted by mounting insecurity toward heavy Chinese migration. The unfortunate circumstances in those days that culminated in the massacre and mass expulsion of Chinese residents in the archipelago would not be repeated in the present. However, I pointed out that the Chinese were shamelessly made into the convenient victims and scapegoats of colonial insecurities, as is happening now with the epic failings of the Marcos administration, despite the unabashed support from Antonio Trillanes IV's unholy alliance of anti-Duterte forces.

The circumstances of beleaguered Bamban, Tarlac, Mayor Alice Guo — the current target of this unholy alliance's proxy assault against the Dutertes — reflect the history of Chinese immigrants in the Philippines.