The Bureau of Immigration (BI) has announced that 9,000 foreign nationals were barred from entering the country in 2016 to “reinforce border security.”
According to the report published by Business World, a total of 2,034 Chinese nationals were denied entry to the Philippines last year, followed by Indians (269), Vietnamese (179), Americans (163), and Indonesians (119).
The total number of these foreigners last year, at 9,738, is 75% more than the figure in 2015, Immigration Commissioner Jaime H. Morente said in the statement.
BI said foreigners may be denied entry if identified “as likely to become public charges.” A public charge is a foreign national “who is likely to become primarily dependent on the government for subsistence due to his lack of capacity to support his stay in the country, thus making him an added burden to society.”
Foreigners may also be refused entry “if, based on the immigration officer’s assessment, his presence here is considered inimical to the national interest or a threat to public health and safety.”
“That we were able to stop these unwanted aliens from entering our borders is proof of our continued vigilance in the discharge of our mandate as gatekeepers of the country,” Mr. Morente said.
For his part, acting BI port operations division chief Marc Red Marinas said those denied entry included fugitives, suspected terrorists, convicted sex offenders, and other blacklisted foreigners, as well as those without entry visas and outbound tickets.
