A TOTAL of 69 foreigners were barred entry from January to June this year by the Bureau of Immigration (BI) for being sex offenders.
BI Commissioner Norman Tansingco said the number of foreign sex offenders denied entry during the first semester is lower compared to the 84 alien sex predators who were excluded in the same period last year.
According to Tansingco, 58 of the excluded passengers are registered sex offenders (RSOs) or persons with record of convictions for sex crimes in their respective countries, while the rest are either subjects of pending complaints or are under investigation or prosecution for various sex offenses.
BI statistics showed that 48 Americans topped the list of the excluded sex offenders, followed by four Britons and two Australians. Also in the list is a German national, an Indonesian, an overseas British national, and one from Papua New Guinea.
All of them were placed in the immigration blacklist and banned from reentering the country for being undesirable aliens.
Last year, the BI launched a program called, ‘Project #Shieldkids’ which aims to conduct an intensified drive against foreign sexual predators attempting to stay or enter the country.
As part of the campaign, the BI has opened up the Commissioner’s helpline via Facebook.com/immigration.helpline.ph, encouraging concerned citizens to report potential cases of child exploitation and abuse involving foreign nationals.
The program endeavors to harmonize government efforts against foreign sex offenders in the country by institutionalizing a network of communication amongst government agencies involved in investigating and arresting pedophiles and traffickers. It also solidifies the BI’s drive against sexual predators by prioritizing cases against foreign nationals that might be involved in sex trafficking of children.
The Philippine immigration act provides for the outright exclusion of foreigners who have been convicted of crimes involving moral turpitude.
