AN overstaying Israeli national was nabbed for attempting to leave the country by presenting a spurious Philippine passport.
Bureau of Immigration (BI) Commissioner Norman Tansingco said agents at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) arrested on Wednesday a 28-year-old Israeli national of Philippine descent, who was intercepted at the NAIA terminal 3 where he was supposed to board a Cebu Pacific flight to Denpasar, Indonesia. The man is currently detained at the BI’s facility in Bicutan, Taguig.
The BI’s border control and intelligence unit (BCIU) headed by Dennis Alcedo said that the passenger presented himself to the immigration officer at the BI counter for departure formalities and then handed over a Philippine passport which turned out to be fake as evidenced by the glaring irregularities immediately noticeable in the passport’s bio-page.
“When asked by the immigration officer how and where he obtained the said passport, the passenger readily admitted that he procured the same from a fixer for a fee of P10,000,” BI-BCIU overall deputy chief Joseph Cueto reported.
Upon verification with the BI’s forensic documents laboratory, it was confirmed that the entire document is indeed counterfeit.
Reacting to the incident, Tansingco warned would-be travelers not to accept offers from fixers.
“The use of these spurious passports will no longer work as immigration officers are trained and adept in detecting fraudulent travel documents,” the BI chief said.
