The Bureau of Immigration (BI) is set to deport a total of 372 foreign nationals in several batches.
According to Department of Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla, the BI is finalizing arrangements for deporting 331 Chinese nationals, and 41 other nationals rounded up in separate operations of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), and the Philippine National Police (PNP) in Pasig and Angeles last September.
He added that 43 of the total have been physically turned over to the BI, while the rest remain in the physical custody of the arresting agency.
He shared that the BI’s Board of Commissioners has already issued a Summary Deportation Order for the 372, and are finalizing the arrangements for their departure.
According to BI’s procedures, deportees must not have a pending case in the Philippines, and must possess a valid travel document.
The BI reported that it has coordinated with the NBI and the Chinese Embassy, requesting the expeditious release of the required documents. After completing the documentation, their departure can be scheduled, with the costs to be shouldered by the deportees.
Meanwhile, BI Commissioner Norman Tansingco said that they have initiated the visa cancellation of 48,782 aliens who were working in POGO companies and service providers, whose authority to operate have either been cancelled or revoked by the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR).
“Upon receipt of the information from PAGCOR, we immediately started cross-checking their employees to determine which ones are still in the country,” said Tansingco. “While this is a laborious task as we have to check each and every record, we are confident that this could be completed in a month,” he added.
Tansingco stated that as an effect of the visa cancellation, the aliens will be ordered to leave instead of being deported. “This is the regular procedure for cancelled visas, and this is actually more economical and faster, as the costs for their departure will be shouldered by the aliens themselves,” he stated.
“In visa cancellation, aliens are given 59 days to depart the country,” said Tansingco. “If they fail to leave, it is then that we initiate deportation proceedings,” he shared.
The BI expects the cancellation of visas to be finalized in batches, and warns those whose visas will be cancelled to depart the country lest face deportation.
The BI clarified that foreign nationals with valid visas and are complying with Philippine laws should not be worried, as the agency are targeting only those who have violated the law.