Citing national security reasons, the Bureau of Immigration (BI) has intensified its crackdown on Chinese nationals suspected of illegally procuring and using Philippine documents to enable them to pose as Filipino citizens.
Last March 19, four such Chinese nationals who are suspected to be behind the proliferation of fraudulently-acquired government-issued identification cards and documents were arrested in Puerto Princesa City, Palawan.
BI intelligence division Chief Fortunato Manahan, Jr. identified the Chinese men as Wang Tao, Li Xiaoming, Guo Zhi Yang, and Lyu Zhiyang, who were arrested in Barangay San Pedro, Puerto Princesa City.
The operation was conducted in coordination with the Naval Forces West, National Intelligence Coordinating Agency 4B, and the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
Lyu, who bore the alias Ken Garcia Lee, was allegedly the mastermind of the operation and earned notoriety in the local community after being tagged as a mafia leader in Palawan.
He was said to head a local syndicate providing illegally-obtained government-issued documents to undesirable aliens and trafficking victims.
During the operation, several Philippines-issued IDs were found and seized from the foreign nationals including their drivers’ licenses, postal IDs, and birth certificates.
“The arresting team of the operation have been working on the case for several months and have kept close coordination with intelligence forces and law enforcement agents to ensure the smooth arrest of the subjects,” said Manahan.
BI Commissioner Norman Tansingco commended the operatives, saying that the suspects are considered big fish, having illegally provided Philippine IDs to foreigners pretending to be Filipinos.
“These foreign nationals use Philippine documents to avoid inspection, buy property, or even interfere in politics. The arrest of Lyu and his gang will definitely hurt the operations of these entities, and hopefully put a stop to the proliferation of fraudulently-acquired documents,” the BI chief said.
It can be recalled that in March, Representative Robert “Ace” Barbers made a statement over his concern on the growing number of arrests and interceptions of foreign nationals holding Philippine documents.
The BI last year reported at least 10 cases of arrested fake Filipinos presenting authentic Philippine documents.
The members of the syndicate were transferred to the BI’s facility in Bicutan, Taguig and face charges for misrepresentation and undesirability in violation of the Philippine Immigration Act of 1940.
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