A woman who attempted to leave the country using a passport under the name of another person has been arrested by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 1 in Pasay City.
NBI Officer-In-Charge Director Eric B. Distor identified the arrested suspect as Bainisin Pulna.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, April 21, the NBI said that Pulna was arrested last April 16 by the NBI’s International Airport Investigation Division (NBI-IAID) after she was caught using a passport in the name of Elsa Cornello Saladili.
“Subject Pulna was presented for inquest proceedings before the Office of the City Prosecutor, Pasay City, for violation of Section 19 (d) (1) of Republic Act No. 8239, otherwise known as the Philippine Passport Act of 1996,” the NBI said.
It said that Pulna was about to depart via Gulf Air flight bound for Saudi Arabia when immigration officers observed that she gave inconsistent and contradicting statements regarding her age.
“Subject Punla also revealed to the Immigration Officers that her father was a farmer and not an elementary school teacher contradicting what was indicated in her NSO (National Statistics Office) birth certificate she presented,” the NBI noted.
“The subject added that it was her first time to travel abroad, contrary to the verification with the Central Query Support System of the Bureau of Immigration, which showed that there was a prior departure and arrival of a certain Elsa Cornello Saladili and the passport image of her present passport is different from the image of her past travel,” it added.