The community is drawing attention partly due to the South China Sea row and spying cases involving Chinese nationals in the Philippines
4-MIN READ4-MIN ListenJeoffrey MaitemPublished: 5:30pm, 24 Jun 2026Chinese-Filipino business groups have sent aid to earthquake-hit residents in the southern Philippines, continuing their tradition of providing disaster relief at a time when worsening Manila-Beijing ties have complicated public perceptions of people and organisations linked to China.In General Santos City, among the areas hardest hit by the devastating 7.8-magnitude earthquake that struck the country on June 8, local officials and survivors said politics had little place in disaster recovery as they welcomed the donations of food, water and other emergency items from the Chinese-Filipino community.But some observers said the relief drive had drawn extra scrutiny as Manila and Beijing remained entangled in the South China Sea dispute and security controversies involving Chinese nationals in the Philippines had put Filipinos on edge.“These are serious concerns now because some Chinese-Filipinos are being accused of advancing China’s agenda in the Philippines or supporting Chinese influence operations,” said Rommel Banlaoi, president of the Philippines-China Friendship Society and a board member of the China-Southeast Asia Research Centre on the South China Sea.
Lucio Blanco Pitlo III, president of the Philippine Association of Chinese Studies and a research fellow at Asia-Pacific Pathways to Progress, said he did not believe the latest donations would be viewed as an attempt to counter suspicions but rather as a continuation of the Chinese-Filipino community’s long tradition of giving back to society.
He said the “loyalty and allegiance” of Chinese-Filipinos was with the Philippines, “although some of them may have misgivings about the approach in dealing with China”, referring to Manila’s handling of relations with Beijing.
