The Bureau of Immigration (BI) has arrested 158 foreign nationals in 2021 for various violation of the country's immigration laws.
BI Commissioner Jaime Morente said the number of apprehension was much lower than the previous year's total of 510 due to coronavirus disease (COVID-19) that restrict the entry of foreign visitors.
"The pandemic has been a challenge in our operations, but we will not stop until we rid the country of unwanted visitors," the BI chief said.
He said most of those arrested were Chinese, South Koreans and Nigerians. Others were Americans, Germans, Indonesians and Japanese.
The 158 apprehensions were in addition to the 83 alien fugitives arrested upon the request of their governments.