MANILA, Philippines — Agents of the Bureau of Immigration (BI) on Wednesday arrested 30 undocumented Indian nationals at the Capitol Estate in Diliman, Quezon City.
Immigration Commissioner Jaime Morente said the foreigners who were arrested by virtue of a mission order he had issued, even attacked some of the bureau’s intelligence agents as the operation was being conducted.
“They were resisting arrest, even assaulting our intelligence agents. Found in their possession were several sharp objects and weapons such as machetes,” he said in a statement on Thursday.
According to BI Intelligence Division chief Fortunato Manahan Jr., some of the undocumented Indian nationals even chased away the arresting immigration agents with machetes during the operation.
“Thankfully no one got hurt. The incident shows the risks that we encounter during operations. There was even an instance in the past when one of our men was shot in the performance of our duties,” he said.
Morente warns undocumented foreign nationals in the country that the BI will go after them.
“We will not tolerate foreign nationals living and working in the country without proper visas. The BI will not rest until all undocumented aliens in the Philippines are hunted down and deported back to their home countries,” he said.
The arrested Indian nationals were turned over to BI’s legal division pending their deportation proceedings.