The Bureau of Immigration (BI) issued a deportation order for the 372 illegal foreign nationals arrested by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) in September.
In a press release on Sunday, Oct. 2, Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin 'Boying' Remulla said the BI board of commissioners is finalizing the deportation arrangements of the 331 Chinese nationals and 41 other nationals who are all workers of the Philippine Offshore Gaming Operations (POGO).
Out of the 372, he said 43 foreigners have been turned over to the BI while the rest are still under the custody of the NBI and PNP.
Remulla said the BI has coordinated with the NBI and the Chinese embassy for the immediate release of documents required for the deportation processes.
Meanwhile, BI Commissioner Norman Tansingco said they are processing the visa cancellations of the 48,782 aliens, who are working for POGO firms that lost the authority to operate.
“Upon receipt of the information from PAGCOR [Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation], we immediately started cross-checking their employees to determine which ones are still in the country. While this is a laborious task as we have to check each and every record, we are confident that this could be completed in a month,” he said in the statement.
Tansingco noted that canceling the aliens’ visas was “more economical and faster“ than deportation, and the costs would be shouldered by the aliens.
“In visa cancellation, aliens are given 59 days to depart the country. If they fail to leave, it is then that we initiate deportation proceedings,” the BI Commissioner said.
Foreign nationals with valid documents and no violation record should not be worried, the BI clarified. It said they are only targeting those who have violated the law.
