A Chinese national has been arrested at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) after arriving in the Philippines as a Filipino human trafficking victim, the Bureau of Immigration (BI) said on Sunday, July 14.
“You cannot buy citizenship. You can be born with it, or be naturalized. There are no other modes or shortcuts in acquiring Philippine citizenship,” declared BI Commissioner Norman Tansingco in a statement.
Tansingco said the Chinese national, whose identity has been withheld in accordance to anti-trafficking laws, was intercepted by immigration officers at the NAIA Terminal 1 last Friday, July 12, after being deported from Thailand where he was detained for three months.
The BI said the Chinese national was found to be a resident visa holder of the Philippines.
King left the Philippines in July last year using a Chinese passport to go to Thailand where he was able to cross into Myanmar together with three other persons.
However, the Chinese decided to leave his employers due to poor work conditions. But before he could leave, he was forced to pay 20,000 baht, or the equivalent of P32,000.
However, the BI said the Chinese national got himself arrested by immigration authorities in Thailand where he was detained, and issued a Philippine travel document from the Philippine Embassy.
“‘King’ said that he feared that he will be deported to China if he uses his Chinese passport, and declared that he has never traveled back to China since his mother brought him to the Philippines when he was six months old. His mother is a permanent residence holder in the Philippines, while his father is allegedly a naturalized Filipino,” the BI said.