Only 18 unruly foreign nationals have been denied entry to the country in 2020.
According to BI Commissioner Jaime Morente, the 18 unruly foreign nationals have been barred from entering the country for disrespect to immigration Officers.
“While immigration officers are instructed to exercise maximum tolerance, some foreign nationals overstep their boundaries and arrive drunk, rowdy, and unruly when they present themselves for inspection,” said Morente. “There were even some who would make derogatory statements about Filipinos or the country,” he added.
Morente said that aside from being returned to their port of origin, discourteous aliens are blacklisted and banned from re-entering the country.
Such policy is grounded under a 2001 memorandum order which instructs immigration personnel to exclude disrespectful foreign passengers, and include them in the immigration blacklist.
Records show that in 2020, 180 aliens have been denied entry under the same grounds, while in 2018, 133 foreigners were excluded for being rude and disrespectful.
Meanwhile, the BI clarified that nationals from the People’s Republic of China, and not South Koreans as previously reported, comprised the bulk of aliens who were denied entry into the country last year.
The bureau’s port operations division said 532 Chinese nationals topped the list of the excluded aliens, followed by 333 Vietnamese, 247 Americans,181 Indonesians, 180 Malaysians, and 58 Myanmar nationals. South Koreans ranked sixth with 55 excluded passengers.
Meanwhile, the BI clarified that nationals from the People’s Republic of China, and not South Koreans as previously reported, comprised the bulk of aliens who were denied entry into the country last year.
18 unruly foreigners barred entry to PH in 2020
The bureau’s port operations division said 532 Chinese nationals topped the list of the excluded aliens, followed by 333 Vietnamese, 247 Americans, 181 Indonesians, 180 Malaysians, and 58 Myanmar nationals. South Koreans ranked seventh with 55 excluded passengers.
In 2020, the BI excluded a total of 3,044 foreign nationals for various immigration violations.
Early this month, authorities arrested an American who was stranded at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) for 3 weeks for indecency and unruly behavior.
The 75-year-old Maurice Francis O’Connor was currently detained at police headquarters. Authorities apprehended him after he refused to wear a face mask and face shield inside the airport. He frequently took off his shorts and expose his private parts in public.