Philippine Civil Service Commission Commissioner Aileen Lizada is not pleased.
The government official shared to media earlier today that she witnessed what she says were Chinese nationals cutting the pre-departure security line at Manila’s Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 3 in Pasay City on this day.
Lizada said she was in line with other passengers when four to five foreigners, who appeared to be Chinese nationals, went under the barrier and bypassed all of them, Abante reported.
She said in a voice message sent to reporters that all the Filipinos were properly falling in line, The Philippine Daily Inquirer reported.
“Out of nowhere, four to five of what appeared to be Chinese nationals suddenly went under the barrier,” she said in Filipino. “They were all laughing and they were all looking at us, and they went straight to the x-ray [machines].”
“Why put a barrier if they won’t follow?” she said, as quoted by ABS-CBN News. “It was there to put things in order. Filipinos fall in line, why can’t they?”
Lizada said she sent her complaint to Manila International Airport Authority general manager Ed Monreal, who defended the foreigners and said that they just moved to a shorter line, the ABS-CBN News report added.
Lizada also said that she wasn’t able to take a video of the incident as it happened too fast and her phone was inside her carry-on luggage.
She has already requested CCTV footage from Monreal and said that she would take further action once the videos are released.
Chinese nationals have become infamous around the world for refusing to follow rules. In August 2015, a mountain resort in Switzerland launched a special train service for Chinese tourists as many were reportedly rude to other passengers, while some would spit on the floor, BBC reported.
Before that, in 2013, the Chinese government even published a guide on how to be a “civilized” tourist.
Anti-Chinese sentiments have been growing in the Philippines, especially since President Rodrigo Duterte decided to establish closer ties with the Asian superpower, even as conflicts in the disputed South China Sea continue. Once, he even joked that the Philippines should become a province of China.
Many fear that China might have too much influence over the Philippines.
The issue worsened when reports came out earlier this year that hundreds of thousands of Chinese nationals are working in the Philippines illegally.
