The Bureau of Immigration (BI) said a total of 1,300 foreigners were denied entry last year as part of the effort to protect the country from undesirable outsiders.
In a report to BI Commissioner Jaime Morente, port operations chief Carlos Capulong said the number was lower by 300 compared to the previous year's total due to travel restriction imposed by the government to minimize the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
He said Chinese topped the list of excluded aliens, followed by 261 Vietnamese, 159 Americans, 33 British and 24 Israelites.
Must of them were denied entry for having no means to support their stay, while others were not properly documented and included in the BI's blacklist.
"Despite the woes of the pandemic, our frontline officers will continue to ensure that only legitimate foreign visitors will be allowed to come," Morente said