Two Chinese nationals wanted by authorities in Beijing for cybercrime were ordered deported and banned from returning to the Philippines, the Bureau of Immigration said Monday.
BI Commissioner Jaime Morente identified the fugitives as Hong Webin and Li Cheng who were arrested inside their condominium unit in Mandaluyong City by operatives from the bureau’s fugitive search unit (FSU).
Morente said he issued the mission order for the aliens’ arrest upon receiving information from the Chinese Embassy in Manila that both are wanted in China for distributing obscene materials via the Internet and engaging in illegal propaganda.
They are now detained at the BI detention facility in Camp Bagong Diwa, Taguig City pending issuance of the order for their summary deportation by the bureau’s board of commissioners.
“We will send them back to China as soon their deportation orders are issued. Their continued presence here poses a threat to public safety and security,” Morente said, adding that the duo will be blacklisted by the BI to prevent them from re-entering the Philippines.
According to BI-FSU chief Bobby Raquepo, both Hong and Li had hidden in the country since October last year when they arrived together in Manila as tourists.
Raquepo said both fugitives had become undocumented aliens as their passports were already canceled by the Chinese government.