
THE Bureau of Immigration yesterday said it has deported American national Lee O’ Brian, the ex-husband of Filipina comedian Marietta Subong, more popularly known as “Pokwang.”
Immigration Commissioner Norman Tansingco said the agency found merit in Subong’s complaint that O’Brian worked in different companies in the country without first securing the needed permits from the Department of Labor and Employment.
A native of San Francisco, California, O’Brian moved to the Philippines in 2015 to pursue his acting career. He and Subong lived together and has a daughter.
Tansingco said O’Brian was ordered deported in December 2023 for violation of the conditions of his stay in the country as a tourist. He contested his deportation by filing a motion for reconsideration, which was eventually denied by the BI recently.
“He was deported on the evening of April 8 on board a Philippine Air Lines flight to San Francisco after we confirmed that he has no pending local case in the Philippines,” Tansingco said in a brief statement.
“As a consequence of his deportation, his name has been included in the BI’s blacklist, barring any future attempts to re-enter the country,” he added.