145 Foreign Sex Offenders Barred from Entering PH in 2018

A total of 145 registered sex offenders (RSOs) were denied entry to the country from January to November last year, the Bureau of Immigration (BI) reported on Thursday.

According to BI spokesperson Dana Sandoval, most of the RSOs are Americans.

“Statistics showed that 119 Americans topped the list of the intercepted RSOs, followed by seven Australians and seven Britons,” she said in a text message.

In his report to Commissioner Jaime Morente, BI Port Operations Division chief Grifton Medina said the figure is slightly lower than the 165 number of foreign nationals convicted of sex crimes in their home countries that were barred from entering the country in the first 11 months of 2017.

He noted that RSOs intercepted at the airports are immediately turned away and booked on the first available flight to their ports of origin.

“Our immigration law expressly provides for the exclusion of foreigners convicted of crimes involving moral turpitude. The Philippines is off limits to these sex offenders,” the BI official said in a statement.

RSO refers to a convicted sex offender who had served his sentences or is under probation or parole.

The US and other countries maintain a sex offender registry that allows authorities to keep track of the activities and movement of sex offenders.

For his part, Morente assured that they will continue to be uncompromising in their campaign to ban the entry of foreign sex offenders into the country.

“These aliens pose a serious and real threat to Filipinos. We are trying to prevent women and children from being victimized by these convicted perverts, should they enter the country,” the BI chief said.

With this, Morente acknowledged the unwavering assistance extended to the BI by its counterparts abroad, including the Interpol, by continuously providing them with information about RSOs so the latter could be blacklisted and banned from entering the Philippines. (PNA)