Immigration bureau to blacklist 2 Chinese nationals in CDO

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY — The two Chinese nationals who are facing charges of child abuse and trafficking in person would be blacklisted by the Bureau of Immigration  (BI) as soon as they are indicted, officials of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) said.

Felipe Alano Jr., BI Cagayan de Oro District’s alien control officer, said they were just waiting for NBI 10 to provide them a copy of the resolution to be issued by the City Prosecutor’s Office on the complaint against the foreigners.

“Once they are indicted, we will blacklist them and declare them as undesirable aliens,” Alano said, referring to Chinese citizens Shen Zhi Qiang and Li Qi.

The BI would also implement the deportation procedure if the suspects are convicted and would have served their jail terms, he said.

Alano said Shen arrived in the country on May 27 last year while Li came on March 24 this year.

Shen may have extended his tourist visa about several times since his arrival, said Alano, who assumed office in August last year.

In light of the controversy surrounding the presence of the Chinese people in the country, Alano said he had limited the visa extension to up to only two months.

The Chinese nationals were caught inside the rooms of a hotel in Barangay Cugman with seven female minors and three women of legal age by a joint team of NBI-10 agents and the city’s Regulatory and Complaint Board officials in a raid on March 31.

In a separate interview, Mayor Oscar Moreno told the City Social Welfare and Development Office to keep their eyes and ears open all the time to ensure the protection of minors and other vulnerable sectors.

Moreno also called on owners of hotels and inns to “exercise diligence and caution” in accepting minors into their facilities.

“We cannot allow that these hotels and similar places will become instruments in violating the law,” he said.

The mayor also favored the proposal of closing down businesses that allow individuals to commit illegal acts inside their establishments.

“If there is evidence that would warrant the closure, we will order the closure,” he said.

Alano said they were strictly monitoring the movement of foreigners, specifically the Chinese, staying in the city, many of them staying at Marco Hotel in Cugman.

An average of 600 Chinese nationals, either as workers or as tourists, stay in Cagayan de Oro in a month, he said.

The Special Work Permit granted to the Chinese citizens who are employed here is good only for three to six months, he added.

Alano said they were also on the lookout for foreigners suspected of being terrorists who arrived or were arriving in the region.