By Adolfo Quizon Paglinawan

 

Part 20: An old order gives way to reshaping regional geopolitics 

The kneejerk raid of a steel manufacturing plant inside an industrial estate supervised by the Department of National Defense (DND) in Tagoloan, Misamis Oriental last  May 16, has blown bigtime on Gilbert Teodoro’s face.

Only a drum and bugle band and pompom girls were absent when Teodoro served a search warrant accompanied by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC), National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), Philippine National Police (PNP) and other law enforcement agencies, at the Phil Sanjia Steel Corporation manufacturing plant located inside the Philippine Veterans Investment Development Corporation (PHIVIDEC) Industrial Authority.

Working papers

Teodoro confirmed that 69 undocumented Chinese nationals were working illegally in the facility. The high-value targets were flown to Manila in a military plane, detained in a Bureau of Immigration (BI) holding facility that overcrowded, lacking basic sanitation, and thoroughly inhumane.

On June 2, the Department of Justice (DOJ) in the Philippines ordered the release of all the Chinese nationals (along with one Filipino) due to a lack of sufficient evidence.

The National Prosecution Service determined that evidence was insufficient to support allegations that the workers possessed, distributed, or manufactured radioactive/hazardous materials.

The foreigners were found to possess valid visas and working permits.

Allegations of labor, immigration, and consumer protection violations were not proven by authorities.

This wasn’t careful policing; it was pure incompetence—a flashy, high-profile raid that fizzled out into nothing, leaving our justice system with a blackeye.

Safety issue

Teodoro also alleged the workers were processing imported and locally sourced steel in the plant that were suspected to contain “potentially hazardous materials”. Undersecretary Benjamin Acorda Jr., PAOCC executive director, said “This constitutes a violation of Condition 6 of (its) ECC” and of Republic Act No. 6969, or the Toxic Substances and Hazardous Nuclear Wastes Control Act of 1990.

The World Nuclear Association asserts that while trace, microscopic levels of naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM) such as such as uranium-238, thorium-228 and thorium-232, are present in the earth’s crust and eventually find their way into all materials, finding elevated amounts in finished steel—such as rebars or industrial machinery—almost always indicates that radioactive scrap metal has accidentally entered the recycling and steel-melting supply chain.

This issue had better been left for the appropriate government regulatory agencies to handle.

During a May 17 virtual meeting, NBI officials said initial tests indicated the presence of radium, uranium, and thorium. But the Philippine Nuclear Research Institute (PNRI) was only tasked then to determine the levels and regulatory implications of the findings. This only goes to show that the NBI claim of initial tests was either non-existent or mere suspicion.

Radioactive materials fall under PNRI jurisdiction and are regulated under Department Administrative Order No. 29 (1992) and the implementing rules of Republic Act No. 6969. What do you expect PNRI to conclude after all the brouhaha left it with no recourse but face-saving.

Lawyer Norlito Eneran, DENR assistant secretary for legal affairs and enforcement, said they cancelled the environmental compliance certificate (ECC) of Sanjia and issued a cease-and-desist order on the basis of the findings of the PNRI with a fine of  P450,000 for alleged administrative violations.

This could have prevented the factory from shutting down while administrative recourse is being worked on to prevent the loss of livelihood for 316 Filipino workers.

Harassment

Philippine Sanjia Steel Corp., the company operating the controversial P800-million steel manufacturing plant, has denounced the operation as “harassment packaged as law enforcement” and demanded the reopening of its facility and release of its detained workers.

Sanjia denied the accusations and questioned the use of search warrants and detention of personnel, arguing that the alleged violations involved administrative and regulatory matters rather than criminal offenses.

“These alleged infractions fall strictly under the regulatory supervision of civilian agencies,” the company’s legal counsel, Julia Chu, said in a statement. “Legitimate compliance issues are ordinarily addressed through a Notice of Violation process — not by serving criminal search warrants, shutting down an industrial complex, and detaining technical personnel.”

                   Military-controlled steel plant in Misamis Oriental..

Sanjia also disputed allegations that it manufactured substandard steel products, noting that representatives from the Department of Trade and Industry–Bureau of Philippine Standards were not present during the operation.

The firm maintained that its products comply with engineering and dimensional standards and said it holds valid Product Standard certifications.

The company likewise rejected allegations involving uranium and “nuclear waste,” describing the claims as baseless and sensationalized.

According to Sanjia, its operations use imported Japanese scrap metal processed under an Environmental Compliance Certificate issued by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. It added that the imported materials entered the country with complete certifications and complied with Japanese industrial standards.

The company warned that public references to “nuclear waste” involving Japanese industrial materials could affect trade relations and damage investor confidence.

Malicious undertones

Sanjia also defended the 69 foreign nationals apprehended during the operation, saying they were specialized engineers and technical personnel necessary for machinery operations and technology transfer.

“All foreign personnel possess valid immigration documents and active Alien Employment Permits issued by the Department of Labor and Employment,” Chu said.

Working papers of arrested Chinese nationals were all valid and in good order.

The company claimed that authorities barred its legal team from entering the facility during the operation, leaving workers and foreign personnel without legal representation for nearly 24 hours.

Sanjia argued that the alleged restriction may constitute a violation of constitutional rights and could affect the integrity and admissibility of evidence obtained during the raid.

The steel manufacturer also questioned the absence of other regulatory agencies during the operation, including the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, the Bureau of Immigration, and the Securities and Exchange Commission.

“If the objective was truly regulatory compliance, then the proper agencies should have been present from the beginning,” Chu said.

The company likewise denied alleged ties to businessman Tony Yang, saying corporate records filed before the SEC show that Yang had already divested from the corporation.

Sanjia also rejected allegations linking the company to illegal POGO activities, claiming authorities failed to recover servers, gaming systems, or communication infrastructure during the search.

Teodoro’s slip of the tongue revealed malice when said the raid uncovered “grave crimes” allegedly committed by the Chinese principals of Sanjia under Tony Yang and his dummies against Filipinos.

Tony is the brother of Michael Yang, who was former economic adviser to President Rodrigo Duterte. He accused the siblings to have also been linked to Philippine offshore gaming operators, a matter that absolutely had no bearing on the Sanjia case.

“We find it deeply troubling that broad and highly publicized allegations were used to justify an operation of this magnitude despite the apparent absence of evidence supporting claims of illegal gaming activities,” Sanjia legal counsel Chu added.

Despite the controversy, the company said it would invite independent international auditors and Japanese suppliers to assess the facility and validate its compliance and operational standards.

The company maintained that it remains a legitimate industrial manufacturing enterprise and said the allegations had already caused significant reputational and economic damage to its operations, workers, suppliers, and business partners.

Shooting ourselves on the foot

This reckless profiling of an entire nationality does not protect our sovereignty; it actively destroys our economy and our international standing.

• Chilling Effect on Foreign Direct Investment (FDI): No serious global investor will bring capital into the Philippines if their legitimate operations can be disrupted overnight by a heavily armed, media-hungry task force. Projects like the Misamis Oriental steel plant provide real jobs for hundreds of our countrymen. When we paralyze these businesses based on flimsy pretexts or corrupt motives, it is the ordinary Filipino worker who goes hungry.
• The Threat of Reciprocity: We have millions of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs), with almost 200,000 in mainland China, Hongkong and Macau. How would we feel if foreign governments started selectively raiding, profiling, and locking up our overseas Filipino workers in squalid cells just to score political points? We demand fair treatment for our OFWs; we must extend the same decency to those who come here to work.
• Threat to Tourism: The Department of Foreign Affairs and the China’s foreign ministry, together with the respective tourism offices of both countries have relaunched this year the 14-day visa-free entry and e-Visas to boost traveler numbers and opened three new air routes from Hangzhou, Changsa and Chongqing to Manila, there has already been a 63% increase in arrivals. Isn’t it loud enough signal that we have lost our preference from our Chinese neighbors who sent us 4 million tourists from 2017 to 2019 but only 762,226 from 2023 to 2025? This downturn was largely attributed to bad publicity, visa disruptions, perceptions of Sinophobic harassments , and limited air connectivity.
• Top trade: China is the largest  importer of products from the Philippines. In April 2026, a single-month, China accounted for 29.7% of the Philippines’ total imports, valued at USD 3.92 billion. Additionally, China’s imports from the Philippines were valued at USD 19.33 billion in 2024. This indicates a significant trade relationship where China is the largest supplier of imported goods from the Philippines.

Verbal abuse at Shangri-La

At the Shangri-La Dialogue security summit in Singapore last May 29, Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto “Gibo” Teodoro Jr. sharply criticized China, accusing Beijing of seizing territory in the South China Sea, repressing its own people, and suffering from a severe deficit of trust and credibility.

• Territorial Aggression: He accused Beijing of actively stealing and seizing sovereign maritime territory within the Philippines’ Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). The bias here is not difficult to sort out because exclusive economic zones do not generate territory. Besides the EEZ that the Philippines is claiming west of its territory is disputed by four parties and its delimitation cannot have any finality without conflict resolution based on Article 74 of the UN Convention of the Law of the Sea.
• Disregard for International Law: He heavily criticized China for refusing to recognize the historic 2016 Arbitral Award that invalidated Beijing’s expansive maritime claims. The bias here is that the “award” forms part of international law which it does not. The 2013 arbitration resulting in the award was a voluntary arbitration that forms laws only between and among parties. The Philippines was the only participant in the exercise.
• Deficit of Trust and Credibility: He directly questioned China’s capability to lead or promote a “fairer” international order. He argued that China cannot be a credible security partner when it aggressively targets smaller nations like the Philippines. What baffles China is that despite providing real help to the Philippine people, including proving arms and equipment to the Philippine military against insurgent Muslims, preemptive donation and preferential sale of Sinovac during the COVID-19 pandemic, fertilizer donations amid a global shortage, helping build major infrastructure projects like numerous bridges and railways, delivering immediate disaster relief whenever the Philippines was hit, offering soft long-term loans and being the Philippines’ biggest trade partner, the defense secretary seems detached from his surrounding reality and locked in a single issue of maritime disputes.
• Domestic Repression & Hypocrisy: During tense exchanges, Teodoro highlighted China’s extensive internal restrictions on free expression and its systematic crackdown on dissidents, arguing its domestic governance undermines its global peace rhetoric. This proves Teodoro is seriously an ignoramus about the democratic socialism based on Chinese characteristics that China has progressed to and the earth-moving economic assistance it has given to the world in its platform of “shared humanity”.
• Disinformation and Covert Operations: He slammed what he called “propaganda spiels disguised as questions” from Chinese state media during panel sessions. He later condemned Beijing for deploying intelligence agents disguised as “pretend journalists” to run media manipulation and twist narratives at the forum. Teodoro’s dogmatism against China has created a dangerous side effect manifesting in a paranoia that sees espionage where there is any Chinese activity be it in diplomacy, business, tourism, science, education and even in cultural exchanges.

Geopolitical Fallout

Beijing’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced last June 18 that Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro, as well as his wife and children, are now banned from entering the country, including Hong Kong and Macau.

It added that “organisations and individuals in China” will not be permitted to “engage in any transaction, cooperation or other activities with him and his spouse and child”.

It said Teodoro had “repeatedly made erroneous remarks concerning China”, which had undermined China’s legitimate interests and bilateral ties.

The ban marks another escalation in long-running tensions between the two countries over the South China Sea. Half a dozen countries, including the Philippines, lay claim to different parts of the sea, but Beijing insists that it holds sovereignty over almost all of its waters.

Teodoro’s rhetoric “undermines China’s legitimate interests and sabotages China-Philippines relations”, the Chinese statement said, without specifying which remarks it was referring to.

China’s Foreign Ministry heavily rebuked Teodoro, claiming he used the international summit for “political theatrics” and “selfish personal gains” and consistently vilifying China and trying to sabotage bilateral relations.

Conclusion

Teodoro dismissed the sanctions, labeling them as” a normal reaction from a regime trying to hide its deception.”

The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) stood in absolute solidarity with him, stating that his remarks at the summit were “accurate” representations of international law. We have debunked this claim to accuracy earlier because it looks closest to the United States rules-based order.

Expired Supreme Court (SC) Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio is urging the Marcos administration to “retaliate” with matching restrictions against China’s defense leadership. What a pea brain!

Department of Foreign Affairs spokesperson, Analyn Ratonel, emphasized that while the sanctions are China’s sovereign prerogative, the Philippines views them as an unfriendly act that further complicates the bilateral relations. What can she say after the fact?

Meanwhile, a perjury case against Teodoro is being bruited for filing by active members of the AFP, for lying that he was holding foreign passport.

Definitely contributing to his own “trust deficit”, the defense secretary submitted affidavits to the Comelec to substantiate his being a natural-born citizen when he ran for the Senate in 2022 and to the Commission on Appointments for his appointment by the President to his present position.

In those respective affidavits, he claimed he has renounced his Maltese citizenship and reacquired his Filipino natural-born citizenship.

Teodoro has, however, failed to make public any documentary proofs from the government of Malta accepting such renunciation and documentation either by the Bureau of Immigration or any Philippine consulate of his reacquisition of Filipino citizenship. What he publicized was that he made submissions for the cancellation of his foreign passport.

The qualification for senator and member of the cabinet in our government does not allow dual citizens, but only natural born citizens. 

Seriously, we may have a foreigner as defense secretary, which may explain why he has alien ideas about geopolitical realities in our region.

   

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