THE BUREAU of Immigration (BI) has implemented the immigration lookout bulletin order (ILBO) issued by the Department of Justice (DOJ) against Bamban Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo after the office of Commissioner Norman Tansingco received the three-page ILBO dated June 21 from the DOJ.
Included in the ILBO are a certain Guo Hua Ping, and 17 others. An ILBO is issued by the DOJ for prudence instructing immigration officers to double check if there are any pending arrest warrants against the subjects, any violation or infraction, or to monitor their itineraries and whereabouts should they attempt to leave the country.
The ILBO states that considering the gravity of charges, subjects may attempt to place themselves beyond the reach of legal processes by fleeing the country, hence the BI is ordered to relay to the DOJ attempts to depart to obtain information for the proper course of action to be undertaken by immigration officers.
The order also states that a precautionary Hold Departure Order will be filed against the subjects while the alert has been encoded in their system to allow BI officers to detect any attempts to travel.
On June 23, the BI was able to intercept the travel of a Chinese woman included in the ILBO. Identified as Zhang Jie, 30, she attempted to board a flight to Jinjiang, China at the Davao International Airport (DIA).
Upon confirmation of instruction from DOJ representatives from the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking, Zhang was stopped from boarding. She was taken into custody and transferred to the BI Warden’s Facility pending resolution of the deportation case to be filed against her.
Officers were alerted of her records prompting them to conduct secondary inspection and verification with the DOJ, in compliance with the ILBO.
Tansingco said they have reason to suspect that Zhang has visa problems as she declared herself as unemployed but was presenting a 9(g) commercial employment visa.
Foreign nationals who have ceased employment from their petitioning company are required to surrender their ACR I-Cards and downgrade their visa. Tansingco said that they are set to conduct an investigation on her visa status.
Tansingco meanwhile welcomed the tighter measures implemented by the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) in issuing entry visas to Chinese nationals as another strong layer of protection against foreigners who might attempt to exploit the visa system.
He said that in February last year, the BI has implemented a major overhaul of its systems by deactivating its port operations division. The BI has likewise recently introduced online applications for tourist visa extensions and other essential BI services.
Tansingco added that they have also initiated integrated systems with numerous government agencies such as the Department of Migrant Workers, the Department of Labor and Employment, and the Commission on Filipinos Overseas, among others, to make verifications seamless and eliminate opportunities for corruption by automating processes.
It can be recalled that last June 13, the DFA announced that Chinese nationals applying for temporary visitor’s visas at Philippine foreign service posts will now be required to submit their Chinese Social Insurance Record Certificates.
The move, according to the DFA, was made following “headline discovery of fraudulently-obtained passports and visas resulting in the illicit entry and overstay” of foreigners in the Philippines.
Tansingco said that the tightening of isa requirements is a welcome development and will add another strong layer of defense against illegal aliens attempting to abuse the country’s visa system.
In 2023, the BI denied the entry of 3,359 foreign nationals, with 61% of which were tagged as likely to become a public charge.
“We welcome this move to have a stronger pre-vetting action as both agencies work hand-in-hand to protect against the entry of undesirable aliens,” he stated.
