The Bureau of Immigration (BI) has raised serious concerns over the increasing use of Filipino names by Chinese businessmen, who falsely present themselves as owners of companies, although the Filipinos they claim to represent do not exist.
BI Commissioner Joel Anthony Viado pressed the button following the arrest in Digos City, Davao del Sur of a Chinese national identified as Bangdie Pan who was found managing a hardware store registered under an alleged Filipino citizen whose identity is now under investigation.
The BI said that Pan had a work visa linked to a company in Pasig City, but she was discovered working illegally in Davao del Sur.
Filipino workers at the hardware store admitted that the supposed Filipino owner was fake and that the permits were forged.
The BI operatives also arrested four Chinese nationals identified as Zhongyi Tang, Tianpei Wu, Dezhen Liu, and Wang Lianxu,.who were found to be working illegally in a chemical manufacturing plant in M’lang, North Cotabato.
Immigration operatives discovered that the birth certificates and documents showing Liu as a Filipino was spurious.
It was also uncovered that the company is registered under a Filipina, but Filipino workers have not seen the purported owner since opening of the business. Plant employees admitted that the owner is actually a Chinese man based in Manila.
Viado said there is a growing trend of illegal aliens obtaining Philippine documentation to facilitate their opening of businesses in the country
He expressed concern that these documents and new identities could be misappropriated by foreigners with malicious intent, allowing spies to disguise themselves as Filipinos within the community.
He called for more stringent regulations on the issuance of Filipino documents and ID cards to safeguard against exploitation by illegal aliens.
Editor’s Note: This is an updated article. Originally posted with the headline: “Immigration warns of illegal aliens using fake Filipino personas”