MANILA, Philippines — Three more Chinese nationals wanted in their country were arrested by Philippine authorities but they cannot be deported yet due because they have to face charges filed against them in the country, Bureau of Immigration (BI) said.
In a situation report Sunday, Immigration Commissioner Norman Tansingco said that operatives from the BI’s Fugitive Search Unit (FSU) arrested three individuals on August 13 in Barangay Tambo, Parañaque City.
The three suspects were identified as Jun Chen, 28, Hongru Zhang, 26, and Hao Zhen, 27.
Tansingco said that the arrest was carried out under a mission order following a request from the Chinese government, which alerted the BI to the fugitives’ presence in the country.
But the BI chief said that the three cannot be deported yet, as they still face criminal charges, including robbery, grave coercion, illegal detention, illegal possession of firearms, and illegal drug trading.
These charges have been filed by the police with the Parañaque City Prosecutor’s Office.
“They can only be deported after the criminal cases against them are resolved and, if convicted, they will have to first serve their sentence in jail,” said Tansingco.
The criminal cases were filed after police rescued a Vietnamese national who had been kidnapped and illegally detained by the Chinese nationals.
According to BI-FSU acting chief Rendel Ryan Sy, two of the three suspects are wanted by the public security bureau in Jinjiang, China, and have outstanding arrest warrants, while the third individual is an overstaying alien.
Sy added that all three are now considered undocumented aliens, as their passports have been canceled by the Chinese government.
The suspects are currently in the temporary custody of the Parañaque police, awaiting the resolution of their criminal cases.
