Bureau of Immigration (BI) officers have intercepted African couple who attempted to enter the country by posing as Canadian citizens at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).
In a report to Immigration Commissioner Norman Tansingco, BI port operations chief Carlos Capulong said the two passengers arrived at the NAIA terminal 3 on Sept. 25 on board an Emirates flight from Dubai.
Capulong said the couple presented Canadian passports which were later confirmed as counterfeit by the bureau's forensic documents laboratory.
The male passenger was identified as Adraman Issa Mariam and the woman as Halime Abba Souleymane, both nationals of the central African republic of Chad.
“Apparently, they attempted to conceal their true nationality in the belief that they would be allowed entry into the country without being subjected to strict inspection by our officers, " Capulong said.
Tansingco ordered the inclusion of the two Africans in the immigration blacklist to prevent them from returning.
They were immediately booked on the first available flight to their port of origin.