President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. has rejected a bill seeking to grant citizenship to a Chinese businessman allegedly linked to the shuttered Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs), Presidential Communications Undersecretary and Palace Press Officer Claire Castro said on Friday.

Castro told a press briefing in Malacañang that President Marcos could not “blindly ignore the alarming and revealing warnings” against Li Duan Wang.

“I am unable to blindly ignore the alarming and revealing warnings raised by our relevant national agencies that find the subject grantee’s character and influence to be full of ominous and dark consequences, if not of a clear and present danger,” Castro quoted the President as saying.

“Ang ipagsawalang bahala ang babalang ito ay tila pagsuway sa ating tungkulin sa sambayanang Pilipino,” Castro added.

Castro said being granted a Filipino citizenship is a privilege and should not be given freely to any foreigner. It should not be used as a tool for the advancement of dubious interests, she added.

According to the President, granting Filipino citizenship to a foreigner is not only about giving legal rights to that person.

“Binubuksan natin ang buong karangalan ng ating kasaysayan, ang ating lahi, at ang ating pamana,” Castro said.

“Unang-una po nais ipaalam ng Pangulo na kung may kaduda-dudang interes at hindi naman bingi ang ating Pangulo para dinggin at pakinggan kung ano yung kanyang mga nakukuhang mga data or facts about supposed to be grantee,” Castro said.

“Kung nagkaroon man ng desisyon ang Kongreso na patawan o bigyan ng Philippine citizenship itong si Li Duan Wang, hindi po kumbinsido ang Pangulo,” she said. | PND