The Bureau of Immigration (BI) said it barred two American citizens convicted of sexually molesting minors in the United States from entering the Philippines on Wednesday.
It identified the two passengers as Mark David Scanlon, 53 and Richard Stuart Patterson, 33. Scanlon was intercepted at the Mactan-Cebu International Airport after arriving from Taiwan, while Patterson was turned back at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport after arriving from Los Angeles.
Both passengers were sent back to their ports of origin after they were denied entry.
BI Commissioner Norman Tansingco said Scanlon was convicted in 2012 in Cook County, Illinois on the charge of indecently soliciting a child over the Internet.
The victim was 11 years old.
Patterson was convicted in May 2011 in Oregon on the charges of sexual abuse in the second degree and sodomy in the third degree. The victims were 15 and 13 years old, respectively.
Tansingco expressed concern about the increasing number of foreign sex offenders trying to enter the Philippines.
He said immigration officers were intercepting registered sex offenders “almost daily,” not only in Manila but also in provincial airports such as Cebu.
Tansingco said he was worried that unscrupulous individuals might be promoting sex tourism in the country.
“We will not allow that to happen. We are duty-bound to implement a provision in our immigration act that prohibits the entry of aliens convicted of crimes involving moral turpitude. We will not allow the entry of these undesirable aliens to pose a threat to our women and children,” he said.