Bureau of Immigration (BI) operatives arrested 128 foreign fugitives in 2023 who are wanted for various crimes in their homelands.
Immigration Commissioner Norman Tansingco said the foreign fugitives were captured in various operations conducted in different places nationwide where the said foreigners were hiding or have stayed since they arrived in the country.
Nearly all of the captured fugitives were already deported and are already serving time in prison in their respective countries after being convicted of the crimes they allegedly committed.
Tansingco commended the Fugitive and Search Unit (FSU) agents for its accomplishments, saying it sends a signal that the Philippines is not a refuge or sanctuary for foreign criminals who want to evade arrest and prosecution for crimes they committed in their country.
“Our country is off limits to these foreign fugitives. They are not welcome here and there will be no letup in our campaign to hunt and deport them so they could be tried for the criminal cases that were filed against them,” the BI chief declared.
The FSU also reported that 39 South Koreans account for the bulk of the arrested fugitives, followed by 25 Chinese, 15 Vietnamese, 12 Taiwanese, 11 Americans, and 8 Japanese.
Offenses committed by the others include involvement in economic crimes, investment scams, illegal gambling, money laundering, telecommunications fraud, robbery, and smuggling.
Meanwhile, two more American pedophiles, previously convicted of committing sex crimes against minors, were barred from entering the country over the weekend by Bureau of Immigration (BI) officers at the international airports in Manila and Cebu.
The two were identified as Carvin Renee White, 57, who arrived at the Mactan-Cebu International Airport (MCIA) aboard a Cathay Pacific flight from Hongkong, and Scott Edward Edson, 47, who arrived at the NAIA Terminal 3 aboard a United Airlines flight from Guam.
They were immediately booked on the first available flight to their port of origin as a consequence of exclusion orders that were issued against them by immigration officers for being undesirable aliens.