180 foreigners banned in 2019 for rude behavior — immigration

MANILA, Philippines — Some 180 foreigners were blacklisted and banned from entering the country in 2019 for showing rude behavior to immigration officers, the Bureau of Immigration (BI) said Friday.

Out of the 180 foreigners, 63 of them were Chinese nationals, said the BI.

The BI said that statistics from their airport operations section showed that the foreigners also consisted of 23 Koreans, 10 Americans, nine Japanese, eight Australians and five Britons.

Also included were four Malaysians, four New Zealanders, four Saudi nationals, four Singaporeans, four Vietnamese, three Germans, three Hong Kong nationals, three Israelis, and three Swiss nationals.

Immigration Commissioner Jaime Morente noted that the number was slightly higher compared to the record of 133 foreigners in 2018. In 2017, 129 foreigners were turned back for the same reason.

Aside from being deported, Morente said, such foreigners were blacklisted and banned from entering the country for being “undesirable.”

BI port operations division chief Grifton Medina said that the foreigners were turned away at the Manila and Mactan, Cebu international airports.

Some of the passengers were drunk, rowdy, and unruly when they presented themselves to immigration officers for primary inspection.

“Others, although sober, were arrogant and discourteous. They would shout expletives, and would even make derogatory statements about Filipinos or the country,” Medina said.

“We thus reiterate our warning to foreigners intending to visit the Philippines that they should refrain from exhibiting bad behavior that would make them undeserving to enter our country,” Morente said.