The Bureau of Immigration reported the arrest of an American wanted by US federal authorities for theft and forgery.
In a report to Immigration Commissioner Jaime Morente, the BI’s Fugitive Search Unit (FSU) identified the fugitive as Howard Bernard John Highley, 68, who was arrested last Thursday at his residence in the town of Mangaldan, Pangasinan.
Highley faces immediate deportation for being an undesirable and undocumented alien as his US passport was already revoked by the State Department.
Morente earlier issued a mission order for Highley’s arrest at the request of American embassy authorities, which sought his deportation to the US to stand trial for his alleged crimes.
The US government said the Highley is the subject of an arrest warrant issued in October last year by a court in Hamilton County, Tennessee.
He was reportedly charged before the said court with two counts of theft of property and one count of forgery.
Highley is now detained at the BI Detention Facility in Camp Bagong Diwa, Taguig City pending deportation proceedings.
He will be placed in the immigration blacklist and barred from re-entering the country after he is deported.
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Mandatory face shield ‘not yet needed – WHO
It is not yet time to implement the forced use of the face shield in connection with the threat of possible entry into the country of the new variant of the Covid-19 Omicron.
Dr.Rabindra Abeyasinghe, the World Health Organization (WHO) representative, said the virus is airborne and transmitted to people in close contact with the Covid virus carrier.
It is more important to always wear a face mask and wash your hands regularly to avoid contracting the virus.
“I think it will be premature now to go there and say we need to reintroduce face shields because we also know that there is significant public discontent on the mandatory use of face shields,” said Abeyasinghe.
For now, it is only voluntary to wear a face shield in areas under COVID-19 Alerts 1 to 3, such as Metro Manila.
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