By Francis M. Bilowan
The number of mainland Chinese nationals who immigrated to the Philippines more than doubled in 2010 despite the tragic incident in Manila that claimed the lives of eight Hong Kong tourists in August of that year, the Bureau of Immigration (BI) said on Thursday.
BI Acting Commissioner Ronaldo Ledesma said the number of Chinese living in the country went up from 30,809 in 2009 to 61,372 in 2010.
Ledesma said the Chinese have thus dislodged the Koreans as the top foreign citizens who choose the Philippines as their second home, the latter registering a slight increase from 24,876 in 2009 to 28,090 last year.
He said the bureau has registered 90,413 foreign immigrants and 98,733 non-immigrants as of Jan. 1, 2011.
The BI chief believes the geographic and cultural proximity of China to the Philippines, and the fact that Filipino-Chinese communities are firmly established in the country, may account for the rise of Chinese immigrants here.
He said that majority of the Chinese and Korean migrants are students, businessmen, and missionaries who prefer Metro Manila, with its high-rise condominiums and cheap apartments.
Ledesma also said a number of foreign tourists have also expressed preference to studying English in the Philippines, where it is cheaper than in their respective countries of origin.
He said that aside from Chinese and Koreans, the other top foreign nationals who have decided to live in the country are Americans (24,909), Indians (23,317), Japanese (8,931), British (4,781), Taiwanese (3,640), Iranians (3,260), Germans (2,965), and Australians (2,645). - pna
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