Five foreigners who entered the Philippines without proper documentations were arrested by the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) in Tawi-Tawi and were turned over to the Bureau of Immigration (BI).
The BI said the five foreigners, four Indians and a Malaysian, were arrested onboard a vessel last June 28.
They have been charged with illegal entry in violation of Section 37(a)(1) of the Philippine Immigration Act of 1940, it said.
The four Indian nationals were identified by the BI as Lakhwinder Singh Brar, 30; Parwinder Singh, 21; Sukhraj Singh Dubb, 32; and Jagjit Chohan, 36. The Malaysian national was indentified as Bryan Joel Ng, 25.
The BI said that "during the initial interview of the PCG, all four Indian men were found to have no immigration stamps, while Ng was unable to present his passport."
After their turnover to BI, the bureau said it found that "the four Indians are included in the blacklist and attempted to enter illegally to circumvent immigration inspections.”
It said that Ng "is suspected to be involved in trafficking.”
Immigrarion Commissioner Norman Tansingco said “our close coordination with government agencies to monitor the country’s vast shorelines is necessary in protecting the Philippines against illegal entrants."
“The partnership between the PCG and the BI is crucial in stopping the attempts of these illegal aliens,” he added