THE Bureau of Immigration (BI) said it has arrested and detained a Chinese woman for illegally entering the country, by evading inspection by immigration officers at the port of entry.
Immigration Commissioner Norman Tansingco identified the alleged illegal entrant as 23-year-old Zhang Zimo, who was apprehended at the NAIA Terminal 3 last June 15 as she was about to board a China Southern Airlines flight to Guangzhou, China.
Tansingco said Zhang was denied departure clearance after the immigration officer who examined her passport noticed that it has no BI arrival stamp. A check of the BI’s Travel Control System also yielded no record of Zhang’s arrival.
She was immediately arrested and committed to the BI Warden Facility in Camp Bagong Diwa, Taguig City pending deportation proceedings.
“It is a blatant offense for any foreigner to enter the country without inspection and admission by immigration authorities, or obtains entry into the Philippines by willful, false or misleading representation,” Tansingco stressed.
He added that the Bureau was still investigating when, where and how Zhang managed to enter the country without an entry visa, and without undergoing immigration inspection.
“I have ordered a thorough investigation of the incident, to pinpoint who is liable for this incident,” Tansingco said.
Meanwhile, the BI reported another attempt to circumvent immigration procedures by a blacklisted Korean man.
BI frontline inspectors at the Clark International Airport (CIA) in Pampanga recently arrested a South Korean national, who was blacklisted and ordered deported by the Bureau for being an undesirable alien.
Tansingco said 64-year-old Kim Yongchil was intercepted last June 7 as he was about to board an Asiana Airlines flight to Incheon, South Korea.
Kim was arrested after his name prompted a hit in the BI’s derogatory list which indicated that he was blacklisted, and ordered deported by the Bureau in June 2016 for being an undesirable alien.
The Korean man was found to be attempting to evade arrest due to a summary deportation order by the BI Board of Commissioners, based on a complaint for illegal dismissal and undesirability that was filed against him by his employee who also accused him of being anti-Filipino.
Upon his arrest, he was committed to the BI’s detention facility in Taguig City where he would stay until the BI had secured the clearances for his deportation, and arranged his flight back to Korea.
“He will, however, remain in our immigration blacklist as he is perpetually barred from re-entering the country. Aliens who abused and maltreat Filipinos do not deserve the privilege to stay in our country,” Tansingco stressed.
