Two Chinese nationals have been arrested at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) after they were caught using "spurious travel documents" in attempting to leave the Philippines, the Bureau of Immigration (BI) said on Wednesday, Jan. 8.
Immigration Commissioner Joel Anthony Viado identified them as Wang Dingku, 31, and Su Zhengkun, 25, who were stopped from boarding their flight to Bangkok, Thailand last Jan. 5.
Viado said the immigration officers discovered that the Chinese nationals were able to enter the Philippines using counterfeit visas.
“Reports said the passengers presented themselves for departure formalities at the immigration counter when the BI officers who processed them noticed irregularities in the visas impressed on their passports,” the BI said.
“The visas were thus referred for examination to the BI’s forensic documents laboratory which later certified that the said visas are indeed counterfeit,’ it said.
“We commend the immigration officers involved for their vigilance in detecting the fraudulent travel documents that these aliens used to circumvent our immigration laws and enter our country illegally,” Viado said.
The two Chinese nationals are now detained at the BI's facility inTaguig City and will be charged with violation of the Philippine Immigration Act.