The Bureau of Immigration (BI) has recommended the filing of charges against resort owners who allow foreigners to use their facilities for illegal activities.
Immigration Commissioner Norman Tansingco made the call following the raid of an illegal online gaming hub last Saturday, Aug. 31, in a resort in Barangay (village) Agus in Lapu-lapu City, Cebu.
“We suggest to the authorities to file cases against resort owners who allow their properties to be used by illegal aliens in their covert operations,” Tansingco said in a statement.
“This will serve as a warning to those who might attempt to start illegal online gambling operations, which has already been banned by the President,” he pointed out.
The raid in Lapu-Lapu City was conducted by BI operatives in coordination with the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC), the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), the Philippine Center on Transnational Crime (PCTC), the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT), and the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).
The BI said that more than 100 foreigners were arrested during the raid at the resort.
The raid was conducted based on Tansingco's mission order against 13 illegal aliens monitored to be overstaying and working without permit in the resort.
“During the raid, hundreds of foreign nationals were found to be engaged in illegal online gaming operations on makeshift work stations inside the resort premises,” the BI said.
“The arrested foreign nationals will undergo inquest proceedings and will be temporarily detained prior to deportation,” it also said.