Senator Francis Pangilinan on Saturday urged the government to fully enforce the law against undesirable foreign nationals, including Chinese, engaged in criminal activity.
Pangilinan made the appeal following the arrest of James Ong and James Tan in Cabanatuan City where they received a shipment of shabu worth P1.6 billion smuggled from Malaysia.
Pangilinan said after legal deportation proceedings, undesirable aliens should be immediately deported to their country of origin.
“Since it has been established by testimonial evidence that tens of thousands of these Chinese nationals entered the country through illegal means then they should immediately be arrested and deported,” Pangilinan said.
“Illegal nationals take away jobs for Filipinos, rob the government of taxes, and possibly put our national security at risk,” he added.
Joint operatives from the Customs-Ninoy Aquino International Airport, Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, and NAIA Inter-Agency Drug Interdiction Task Group arrested Tan and Ong and seized the 240 kilos of shabu at a storage facility around 11:30 p.m.
Based on cargo manifest, Ywlee 87 Trading of Subang Jaya, Selangar, Malaysia exported and described the shipment as “Work Bench Tables”.
The shipment arrived at the Customs bonded warehouse near the airport on Oct. 24 and consigned to Allejam International Trading in Manila.
Customs airport examiners placed the cargo under x-ray scanning and 100 percent physical examination and discovered the wrapped prohibited substance.
The Customs Port of NAIA immediately coordinated with PDEA and the Interdiction Task Force to conduct the controlled delivery operation that reached the province of Nueva Ecija, resulting in the arrest of the two foreigners and the seizure of the shipment.
Commonwealth Act 613, as amended by Republic Act 503, provides the provisions on deportation of aliens.
“Foreign nationals who have circumvented immigration laws in connivance with corrupt immigration employees have forfeited their right to stay in the country and therefore should be arrested and immediately deported,” Pangilinan said.
In addition, all foreign nationals proven to have committed illegal acts such as violations of our laws may be blacklisted, arrested, and deported, according to the senator, who is also a lawyer.
In 2019, the Bureau of Immigration arrested over 2,000 foreigners, most of whom were illegally staying and working Chinese nationals.
Earlier this week, Pangilinan filed Proposed Senate Resolution 558, urging the Senate to investigate, in aid of legislation, the national security implications of the entry of around four million Chinese into the country since 2017.
Pangilinan said there should be no letup in the drive against illegal foreign nationals, stressing that the number of deportees could be higher if there was an intensified effort to catch and prosecute them
The bureau turned over the seized illegal drugs to the PDEA for further profiling and case build-up against the importers and other responsible persons, and inquest of the two Chinese nationals for violation of the Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002 in relation to Section 1401 of the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act.
Last year, the same team also intercepted 20.8 kilos of shabu worth P141.44 million concealed inside two speakers.
Customs Commissioner Rey Leonardo Guerrero commended the Port of NAIA under the supervision of district collector Carmelita Talusan for their latest accomplishment.
He also praised the men from PDEA and the Interdiction Task Force for successfully conducting the anti-drugs controlled delivery operation.
