ONE of the important tasks of the Bureau of Immigration (BI) — actually its main mission — is to keep our borders safe. And what better way to do this than to arrest or help arrest criminals and fugitives from other countries who are entering the Philippines to hide and escape from the law.
The BI is under the Department of Justice (DOJ) and works with other relevant agencies of the government in fighting human trafficking, money laundering, transnational crimes and other security and economic transgressions.
Immigration authorities have barred 69 foreigners tagged as sex offenders from entering the country in the first half of this year.
Latest data from the Bureau of Immigration showed Americans topped the list with 48, followed by four Britons, two Australians, a German, an Indonesian, an overseas British, and one from Papua New Guinea.
‘Given that the transnational offenders are using modern information technology for their nefarious activities, the government through the BI should also make use of IT in the service of fighting crime.’
Out of the 69 barred foreigners, the bureau said, 58 are registered sex offenders (RSOs) or persons with records 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.
All of them were placed on the immigration blacklist and prohibited from reentering the country for being undesirable aliens.
According to Immigration Commissioner Norman Tansingco, the Philippine Immigration Act provides for outright exclusion of foreigners who have been convicted of crimes involving moral turpitude.
Tansingco noted that the number of offenders this year is lower compared to the 84 alien sex predators who were excluded in the same period last year. Perhaps this is indicative of the effectiveness and resolve of the bureau’s efforts to combat crime, with emphasis on sexual offenders.
Last year, the BI launched a program called Project #Shieldkids. The program aims to conduct an intensified campaign against foreign sexual predators attempting to stay in or enter the country.
The program, the BI said, “endeavors to harmonize government efforts against foreign sex offenders in the country by institutionalizing a network of communication among government agencies involved in investigating and arresting pedophiles and traffickers.”
Tansingco said the program also provides momentum to the Bureau of Immigration’s campaign against sexual predators by prioritizing cases against foreigners that might be involved in sex trafficking of children.
The bureau said that as part of the campaign, it has opened the Commissioner’s helpline via Facebook.com/immigration.helpline.ph, encouraging concerned citizens to report potential cases of child exploitation and abuse involving foreigners.
Given that the transnational offenders are using modern information technology for their nefarious activities, the government through the BI should also make use of IT in the service of fighting crime.
