Bureau of Immigration (BI) agents at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) have arrested a Korean national who tried to depart the country with a Philippine passport.
BI Commissioner Norman Tansingco said that 43-year-old man, who used a Filipino name in his Philippine passport, was apprehended on Monday awaiting a Philippine Airlines flight to Phnom Penh, Cambodia at NAIA terminal 2.
In a report, BI Intelligence Chief Fortunato Manahan, Jr. said that the Korean presented a Philippine passport, but could not answer basic questions in any Filipino dialect.
This caused the primary inspector to doubt the authenticity of his travel document and referred him for secondary inspection.
“Upon interview, the alien admitted that he used to have a Korean passport, and he obtained his Philippine passport through another Korean national,” said Manahan.
The Korean was also able to present a postal ID and a Philippine driver’s license at NAIA.
The BI’s Anti-Fraud Section certified that the passport Kim presented was found genuine.
He was unable to describe basic details about his identity, including the names of his parents and his alleged wife and child, despite the use of a Korean translating application.
Korean arrested for posing as Pinoy at NAIA
Tansingco then seeks probe on the fraudulently-acquired Philippine passport. “There have been many instances in the past of foreign nationals obtaining Philippine documents through misrepresentation and illegal means that have been stopped by our alert officers,” the BI Chief said. “We also warn that evading immigration protocols through acquiring spurious documents warrants deportation,” he added.
The Korean is currently being held by the BI pending prosecution for violating immigration laws.
Earlier, BI officers at the international airport in Mactan, Cebu intercepted a family of three Africans suspected to be victims of an international human trafficking syndicate operating in the country.
Immigration Commissioner Norman Tansingco said the three passengers from Senegal, which included two minors and their mother, were intercepted last March 30 when they attempted to leave for South Korea with questionable travel papers.
“It appears that these Africans were victimized by a trafficking syndicate that uses the Philippines as a transit point for smuggling illegal aliens to other countries,” Tansingco added.
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