Bureau of Immigration operatives in Mindanao arrested on Friday, 50 aliens working as laborers, office workers in Kamanga, Maasim, Saranggani Province.
According to the BI, the 50 Chinese nationals have been a subject of case build up by the agency’s Mindanao Intelligence Task Group (BI-MITG), in charge of monitoring movement of aliens in the southern region.
BI Commissioner Jaime Morente said that the aliens were caught working for a steel company in the area.
“Our operatives received information from concerned citizens regarding the presence of aliens in the region,” said Morente. “Our MITG conducted surveillance and found out that there were aliens working in manual labor,” he added.
Investigations revealed that in March, the aliens secured work permits from the BI, but upon surveillance were found to have misrepresented themselves during their application.
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BI arrests 50 aliens for misrepresenting in Mindanao
“These aliens presented themselves as skilled servicemen that would conduct short-time work in the company,” said Morente. “However when we conducted an audit, we confirmed that they falsified their documents and misrepresented themselves,” he added.
The arrest was coordinated with operatives from the Regional Operations Unit 12 (RIOU-12) of the Philippine National Police, Intelligence Service Unit (ISU15AIB), and 38th Infantry Batallion, 603rd Brigade of the Philippine Army, Naval Intelligence Security Group (NISG-NFEM) and Naval Special Operations Group (NAVSOG-NFEM) of the Philippine Navy, and National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA 12).
The BI shared that the arrest was conducted in two areas of the work site. During the arrest, 31 of the 50 were found to be conducting manual labor, while 18 were found to have been engaged in work inconsistent with their permit.
“Of those arrested, only one was able to present proper documentation as he is a permanent resident in the country,” said Morente. “The rest of the 49 will be charged for violation of the Philippine Immigration Act of 1940,” he added.
The 49 will be temporarily held in a holding facility in Saranggani pending transfer to the BI’s warden facility.