DILG Probes Sister City Deals with China

By Joseph Bernard A. Marzan

A party-list lawmaker on Monday, July 14, expressed hope that the Department of the Interior and Local Government’s investigation into sister city agreements between local government units and Chinese cities, including Iloilo City, would safeguard them from compromise.

House Resolution No. 39, filed on July 9 by Reps. Arlene Bag-ao (Dinagat Islands–Lone), Percival Cendaña, Chel Diokno, Dadah Kiram Ismula (Akbayan Party-list), Leila De Lima (ML Party-list), and Krisel Lagman (Albay–1st), calls on the House of Representatives and the DILG to review these sister city agreements with local governments in the People’s Republic of China.

The resolution alleged that China had used such agreements in other countries to exert influence and further its national security interests.

“These reports of China’s ‘pervasive’ malign foreign interference and influence require deeper investigation, and must include a comprehensive assessment of risks and vulnerabilities of China’s direct engagement with our local government units,” the resolution read.

It also cited the DILG’s lack of mechanisms for data collection, monitoring and evaluation.

DILG Memorandum Circular No. 2024-066, or the amended guidelines on sister city and town twinning programs, directs the Bureau of Local Government Supervision to monitor these agreements and maintain a database of such partnerships.

The memo also requires clearance from the National Security Council, Department of Foreign Affairs and relevant national government agencies before LGUs may proceed with international partnerships.

On July 10, a day after the resolution was filed, DILG Secretary Jonvic Remulla ordered an inventory of all sister city agreements between Philippine LGUs and their Chinese counterparts.

Remulla said the matter also involves the DFA, the Department of National Defense and the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency.

Cendaña, speaking to Bombo Radyo Iloilo on Monday, said the intent of the resolution is to prevent LGUs from being exploited amid ongoing tensions in the West Philippine Sea.

He cited the April arrest of three Palawan scholars in China on espionage charges.

These students were part of the Hainan Scholarship Program, established through a 2017 sisterhood agreement between the provincial governments of Palawan and Hainan.

“When we look at it, these might seem like innocent socio-cultural agreements. When there are sister cities, there are socio-cultural exchanges, sending scholars to China to study,” Cendaña said on Monday.

“But also as a word of warning to the people of Iloilo, let’s look at what had happened in Palawan where there were sister agreements and there were scholars sent to China for college. What had happened was three of these scholars were hostaged and alleged to be spies, and are still currently in detention.”

“These sister city agreements are like gateways to the local level for Chinese influence operations to enter, which endangers our fellow Filipinos. That is why we want to have the sister city agreements of LGUs across the country to be reviewed,” he added.

Cendaña also urged that the agreements be rescinded, at least temporarily, to ensure the safety of Filipinos.

He said they hope Remulla’s action would include a full review of the agreements’ terms and eventual rescission.

“Added to this, we also have to call for stricter guidelines to enter into sister city agreements. Because what is happening is that it is indiscriminate, there are sister city agreements left and right, and it would be easier for China and Chinese cities to enter the country through the LGUs,” he said.

“We hope this is a positive step toward what we want, which is to protect LGUs from Chinese influence operations and harassment, which is not only in our seas, but as we’ve seen, in our local governments, like what had happened in Palawan,” he added.

Data from the Iloilo City Government in June showed it had seven sister city agreements with cities in China.

These include Qingdao, Hsinchu, Guigang City, Guangxi, Huaibei City, Wuhan City and Quanzhou City.