THE Department of National Defense (DND) on Sunday blasted the Chinese Embassy in Manila over its recent statements against Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro, who alleged a “cover-up” of illegal activities involving Chinese in the country.
In a statement early Sunday, Chinese Embassy spokesman Ji Lingpeng described Teodoro’s accusations as “completely unfounded."
The statement stemmed from a joint government operation on Philippine Sanjia-Steel Corp. in the Phividec Industrial Estate in Tagoloan town, resulting in the arrest of 69 Chinese for violations of immigration, labor and environmental laws.
The raid was conducted by the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission, the National Bureau of Investigation, the Philippine National Police, and the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
Ji claimed that Teodoro had a hand at law enforcement operations when he instructed the military to join the raid.
He said China opposes “any discriminatory or selective law enforcement campaigns targeting Chinese nationals by the Philippine side out of political considerations.”
Teodoro dismissed Ji’s accusations as unsubstantiated rhetoric.
“The Chinese Embassy’s response does not contain any answers. Instead, it is full of questions and rhetoric. This is a classic example of evasiveness and a badge of deception. This is in legal practice an implied admission of culpability,” he said in a statement.
“They cannot hide behind their disingenuous misinformation,” he said.
