Bureau of Immigration. INQUIRER PHOTO/ ALEXIS CORPUZ
MANILA, Philippines — The Bureau of Immigration (BI) said it barred 145 foreigners convicted of sex crimes in their home countries from entering the Philippines in the first 11 months of 2018.
The BI, in a statement on Thursday, said BI Port Operations Division Chief Grifton Medina reported to BI Commissioner Jaime Morente that the number of registered sex offenders (RSOs) that were denied entry from January to November 2018 was slightly lower than the 165 sex convicts intercepted in the same period in 2017.
RSO refers to a convicted sex offender who had served sentences or are under probation or parole, the BI noted.
The United States and other countries maintain a sex offender registry that allows authorities to keep track of the activities and movement of sex offenders, the bureau added.
According to Medina, RSOs that were intercepted at the airports were immediately turned away and booked on the first available flight to their port of origin.
“Our immigration law expressly provides for the exclusion of foreigners convicted of crimes involving moral turpitude,” Medina said.
“The Philippines is off limits to these sex offenders,” he added.
Meanwhile, Morente said the BI will remain uncompromising in its campaign to ban the entry of foreign sex offenders into the country.
“These aliens pose a serious and real threat to Filipinos,” Morente said.
“We are trying to prevent women and children from being victimized by these convicted perverts, should they enter the country,” he added. /cbb