INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines – Foreigners staying in the Philippines should obey the country’s laws or face deportation, the Bureau of Immigration (BI) warned after authorities recently arrested 542 illegal foreign workers in Parañaque City.
BI Commissioner Jaime Morente on Thursday said that while foreigners are welcome to stay in the country, they should comply with existing rules and regulations, including those on labor.
“We welcome foreigners to visit the Philippines — work here, live here, study here, retire here, we welcome aliens as long as they comply with our laws,” Morente said in a statement.
“Follow our laws or face deportation,” he stressed.
The National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO), in coordination with the Chinese Embassy, arrested 524 illegal foreign workers.
442 of the arrested foreigners are Chinese, while 45 are Burmese, 25 are from Malaysia, 23 from Vietnam, four from Taiwan, and three from Indonesia.
NCRPO chief Maj. Gen. Guillermo Eleazar said the raid was conducted after information on the operation of a supposed business process outsourcing firm employing undocumented foreign workers was received.
“They were arrested for working without permits and for being undocumented aliens,” Morente explained.
READ: 524 mostly Chinese illegal workers nabbed in Parañaque raid
BI Intelligence Division chief Fortunato Manahan, Jr. said the foreigners were allegedly involved in a telecommunications fraud — similar to a budol-budol scheme.
“But their victims are mostly from mainland China,” Manahan said.
The 542 foreigners are currently detained at the NCRPO headquarters in Bicutan, Taguig City.
“It is within our policy not to implement deportation unless local cases are cleared already. If the alien needs to serve time in our local jails then so be it, this is to ensure the full effect of justice,” Morente explained. /gsg