Bureau of Immigration (BI) agents at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) arrested on Wednesday an overstaying Israeli national for attempting to leave the country by presenting a spurious Philippine passport.
In a report to Immigration Commissioner Norman Tansingco, the BI’s border control and intelligence unit (BCIU) said the passenger, a 28-year-old Israeli national of Philippine descent, was intercepted at the NAIA terminal 3 where he was supposed to board a Cebu Pacific flight to Denpasar, Indonesia.
The BI-BCIU said that after presenting himself to the immigration officer at the BI counter for departure formalities, the man 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.
The man is currently detained at the BI’s facility in Bicutan, Taguig.
BI projects departures to rise post-New Year
The Bureau of Immigration (BI) said that it projects that the daily departures will rise to 40 thousand a day after the new year.
BI Commissioner Norman Tansingco said that arrivals remain high after Christmas, and shared that they have recorded as high as 57 thousand arrivals in a day.
The BI also processed around 30 thousand departures a day post-Christmas.
This brings the total arrivals to 1.48M and total departures to 750 thousand for the month of December.
“We project that the numbers will change after new year, when OFWs and former Filipinos who came home for the holidays go back to their work and residence abroad,” said Tansingco.
He reported that so far, no major incidents or concerns have been noted during their operations during the peak season.
“We hope the smooth operations continue until the new year when most of those who celebrated Christmas here go back home,” he stated.
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