More than 150 Vietnamese nationals were ordered excluded by the Bureau of Immigration’s (BI) immigration protection and border enforcement section (I-PROBES) last month alone.
BI Commissioner Norman Tansingco said the BI’s I-PROBES reported that the increase in entry denials stemmed from the increase in Vietnamese nationals found to be working in illegal online gaming hubs. Also excluded in March are 30 Chinese and 14 Indonesians.
He said a total of 220 aliens of various nationalities were denied entry on the same month, after being found to be likely to become a public charge in violation of the Philippine immigration act of 1940.
As a consequence of their exclusion, said foreigners are included in the BI’s blacklist, effectively barring any future attempts at entry to the country.
Tansingco emphasized that the BI’s actions are not targeted at specific nationalities, but are rather based on meticulous scrutiny of travel patterns and activities of individuals.
“We leverage available data on past arrests and interceptions to identify individuals exhibiting similar travel behaviors,” explained Tansingco.
