Huge Korean presence hardly benefits Pinoys

By Rene Q. Bas /Manila Times
ONE of the closest friends of the Philippines in the post-Second World War period, Korea—Chosun, Land of the Morning Calm–has become the object of love-hate sentiments among Filipinos, who see Korean residents here as loud, noisy and overbearing people.
Primarily this is because, just in the last two years, it suddenly seemed to Filipinos that their communities and neighbor-hoods have been “invaded” by hordes of Korean residents.
They complain that small Filipino businesses were facing competition from similar-sized but better-financed Korean companies.
They complain that some of these Korean firms were opening successful restaurants and taverns with “For Koreans only” signs.
The Filipinos saw that the vastly increased population of tourists from Korea were not adding income to Filipino tour-operators and travel agencies because the Koreans only went to Korean-owned establishments. Even in Boracay, which some complain to have become an almost exclusively Korean preserve, the most successful restaurants and watering-holes are Korean. They have taken away business from Filipino entrepreneurs.
The conclusion, which could very well be true, is that the huge Korean presence in the Philippines hardly benefits the Filipinos. This damning opinion does not include the Philippine benefit from Korean large-scale industrial investments here but only refers to SMEs.
One direct proof of the harm the Korean presence has done is in the tit-for-tat between the immigration bureau and the Korean Embassy, resulting from the alleged extortion activities of BI personnel against overstaying or illegally operating Korean businessmen here.
What the Koream Embassy did was stop the issuance of visas to OFWs bound for Korea.
Yet the government’s tourism department loves “the Korean invasion.”
They have become our No. 1 tourist nationality these days. Only 378,602 Korean tourists came in 2003 but 572,133 came in 2006. Tourism Secretary Ace Durano hopes to see a much higher figure by end 2007. Some 11 million Koreans tourists leave their country every year. Durano wants to get at least a million of that before long—and beat Thailand.
Officially, are 11,889 Koreans in the country, making them the fourth largest foreign group staying in the Philippines, which hosts 113,724 registered foreigners, according to data from the Bureau of Immigration.
Topping the list of foreigners living in the Philippines are the Chinese, at 40,282, followed by the Americans at 17,369, and the Indians at 14,098.
From 2006 to June 2007, a total of 640,000 Koreans have entered the country. Most of them are tourists, the BI said.
A popular destination among the Korean tourists is Boracay in Kalibo, Aklan. This has spurred a local airline to establish direct flights from Ichon, South Korea to Kalibo.
Of the 11,889 registered Koreans in the country, 10,551 are holders of nonimmigrant visas, 1,130 have special visas and 218 with immigrant visas.
Koreans with nonimmigrant status are those with pre-arranged employment here, students, businessmen and those married to Filipinos.
Last year, more than 30,000 foreign students secured study permits and student visas from the bureau.
Koreans account for 95 percent of the foreign students, said Immigration Commissioner Marcelino Libanan. Most of them are minors enrolled in private schools and learning centers.
The BI issues foreign students enrolled in elementary and high school and other nondegree courses a special study permit. A student visa is issued to an alien pursuing a college degree here.
From January to May this year, the BI has issued 7,000 special study permits and 1,300 student visas to Korean students.
The chief of the bureau’s intelligence department, Atty. Faizal Hussin, some 240,000 live in the Philippines though only a small fraction of them are documented.
Of the 200,000 Koreans staying here who do not have the proper travel and immigration permits, half have pending applications with the bureau. The rest are absolutely unregistered. Therefore, Hussin, says these are illegally overstaying aliens.
But one only has to look around to see the rising Korean population in the country. Over the past few years, establishments like English schools for Koreans, Korean restaurants, Korean groceries, Korean dress shops and even Korean churches have sprouted all over the Philippines.
The visual evidence throughout the country is that, as the probably exaggerated estimates of the gloom and doom and anti-administration commentators are saying, there are most likely 500,000 Koreans staying in the country and doing business or studies—mainly English.
Many schools in the country have a noticeable Korean student population.
And when the World Cup season comes just go to the restaurant and bar sections of Makati and you will see the Korean establishments filled to brim by Koreans—especially on days when the Korean team is playing.
The Koreans against whom many Filipinos are complaining do not include the creme de la crème Korean executive of the Land of the Morning Calm’s transnational companies—like Hanjin (one of the world largest shipbuilders), Samsung and the like.
These are very highly respected Koreans.
It is the Koreans who have found the Philippines a congenial place to be that is earning the ire of their Filipino neighbors. (See related story “What’s wrong with them? A descriptive catalogue of real and imagined complaints.”)
I made an informal survey of 20 middle-class and professional Filipinos—half of them journalists the other people of others professions. They all had a thing or two to say about their Korean neighbors. But in the end all of them said their defects are outweighed by their good points. And all said some Filipinos are worse!
Meanwhile, official and diplomatic relations between South Korea and the Philippines continue to be as good as when there but a handful of Koreans here. (See story “RP govt and most educated Filipinos appreciate the Koreans and their republic.”)
Educational connection
I think the popularity of the Philippines to Koreans as the place to learn English in is just a carry over of the Korean War.
In the times when we were the best friend of the South Koreans, I had classmate who came to study in the Philippines. One of my best friends in college was Bong Oh Cha, who I have been trying to trace for decades without any luck.
Sen. Edgardo Angara, who spoke at Kookmin University in September 2006, said these words which are still completely true today:
“The political alliance between the Philippines and South Korea goes a long way back. In fact, the government in Manila was among the first to send troops to the Korean peninsula to defend the South against the invasion from the communist North during the Cold War era.
“Today, Korea is the most important source of tourists for the Philippines. In popular tourist places such as Boracay, Bohol, Cebu or Palawan, the Koreans have become regulars. And apart from short-stay tourists, the estimated number of South Koreans who choose to permanently live in our country now stands at 46,000.
Angara recalled that Koreans began migrating to the Philippines in the 1950s when Korean students came here in great numbers to study business, science, economics, political science and agriculture.
Angara also said that many Koreans actually come to the Philippines today in order to learn English either in universities or in one of the numerous private language schools. He noted that some of these language centers even cater exclusively to Korean students.
Koreans indeed have decided that the Philippines is best halfway house in their eventual progress to become students or residents in the United States.
The Philippines has received some Korean cultural influences. The most recent of these is the Philippine passion for Korean-made telenovelas shown on primetime TV.
Angara intimately knows about the Korean government’s support of the country’s development effort to educate illiterates through the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA).
Angara said that KOICA has been instrumental in the efforts to put up a “Digital Village” in Aurora province where farmers can use the Internet to access information by computer. These pieces of information include the prices of goods, land records, weather forecasts, local government database and other agricultural knowledge support.
“Imagine if every province was connected to each other through a computer network where information could be downloaded in seconds. Think of the businesses to be spawned and the investments to come if such a system were in place,” Angara said.
“Since Korea is acknowledged globally as a leader in wide broadband and recognized as having the highest Internet penetration rate in the whole region, I envision that someday Filipinos, hand in hand with the Koreans, will be highly modernized in information technology. I believe the people of Korea have recognized the talent and skill of our workers—proof of this are the many Filipino workers in Korea. And similarly, the country is a host to the biggest overseas Korean population in the region,” the senator continues.
Korean newspapers report that Filipino workers there are among the best liked. Of the 36,000 Filipinos in Korea, half are undocumented.
There are also stories of Koreans complaining about the Filipinos.