MANILA, Philippines— At least 69 foreign nationals tagged for sex offense charges are barred from entry into the Philippines from January to June, the Bureau of Immigration said Friday.
In a statement, Immigration Commissioner Norman Tansingco said its officers at the airports barred from entering the country a total of 69 foreigners for being sex offenders from January to June this year.
He said the number of foreign sex offenders denied entry during the first semester was lower compared to the 84 alien sex predators excluded in the same period last year.
Tansingco said that 58 of the excluded passengers were registered sex offenders (RSOs) or persons with a record of convictions for sex crimes in their respective countries.
“The rest are either subjects of pending complaints or are under investigation or prosecution for various sex offenses,” said Tansingco.
According to the BI chief, the Philippine immigration act provides for the outright exclusion of foreigners who have been convicted of crimes involving moral turpitude.
Data showed that 48 Americans topped the list of the excluded sex offenders, followed by four Britons and two Australians. Also on the list is a German national, an Indonesian, an overseas British national, and one from Papua New Guinea.
All of them were placed on the immigration blacklist and banned from reentering the country for being undesirable aliens, Tansingco said.
The government recorded at least 17,600 child abuse cases in 2023, according to the Council for the Welfare of Children.
By the third quarter of 2023, there were at least 1,000 children who were victims of Online Sexual Abuse or Exploitation of Children, it said.
In 2023, the BI launched a program called “Project #Shieldkids,” which aims to conduct an intensified drive against foreign sexual predators attempting to stay or enter the country.
The program endeavors to harmonize government efforts against foreign sex offenders in the country by institutionalizing a network of communication among government agencies involved in investigating and arresting pedophiles and traffickers.
It also helps the government drive against sexual predators by prioritizing cases against foreign nationals that might be involved in the sex trafficking of children, it said.
As part of the campaign, the BI has opened up the Commissioner’s helpline via Facebook.com/immigration.helpline.ph, encouraging concerned citizens to report potential cases of child exploitation and abuse involving foreign nationals.
