THE Bureau of Immigration (BI) has barred five visitors from entering the country for allegedly being registered sex offenders.
Immigration Commissioner Norman Tansingco said all five passengers, consisting of four Americans and a New Zealander who are registered sex offenders (RSOs), were intercepted at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).
They were turned back and loaded on the next flight to their port origin, Tansingco said.
The group was subsequently placed in the BI blacklist of undesirable aliens to make sure they can never return to the Philippines.
RSOs were foreigners who have been previously convicted of sex offenses and whose entry into the Philippines is prohibited under the country’s immigration act as the crimes they committed involve moral turpitude.
Those intercepted were identified as Daniel Lee Downey, who was convicted by a California court for engaging in lewd and lascivious acts with a child under 14 years of age; New Zealander Richard Neil Smith, 73, who arrived via a Scoot Airways flight from Singapore and was reported to be a convicted child sex offender in his country.
Shannon Barlow, an American was intercepted at the NAIA terminal 3 upon arrival aboard an Air Nippon Airways flight from Tokyo. Barlow was convicted of sexual abuse in the first degree by a Chicago court in 1996 was sentenced to a prison term of more than three years.
Randy Ray Rogers, also an American, was excluded at the NAIA terminal 3 after arriving via a Turkish Airlines flight from Istanbul, and was convicted in Texas on two counts of aggravated sexual assault where in the victims are 19 and 24 year-old females.
American, John Herbert Timbol, was intercepted at the NAIA terminal 3 when he arrived via a Philippines Airlines flight from Los Angeles, California.
Timbol was said to have been convicted in North Carolina on the charge of sexual offense in the first degree against an unknown victim.
Meanwhile, the BI opened its newest field office in Pagadian City, located at the 4th Floor East Wing of the City Commercial Center – C3 Mall, J.P. Rizal Avenue, Santiago District.
The opening of the Pagadian Field Office was part of the BI’s strategic initiative to expand its presence nationwide and enhance its service delivery capabilities.
By establishing field offices in key areas across the country, the BI aims to provide accessible and efficient immigration services to all Filipinos and foreign nationals.