The Bureau of Immigration on Wednesday reported that its BI officer at Ninoy Aquino International Airport intercepted two African nationals — a male and a female — who attempted to enter the country pretending to be Canadian citizens.

In a report given to BI Commissioner Norman Tansingco, BI Port Operation Division chief Atty. Carlos Capulong said that the two passengers arrived at the NAIA Terminal 3 last week via Emirates flight EK336 from Dubai.

Capulong added that upon arrival, the couple presented Canadian passports to the immigration officers, but authorities found the documents doubtful due to many inconsistencies in the document.

The passports were forwarded to the BI's forensic documents laboratory, which confirmed that the documents were indeed counterfeit.

The two intercepted passengers were identified as Adraman Issa Mariam and Halime Abba Souleymane, both African nationals.

Evidently, they made an effort to hide their true nationality in the hope that they would be admitted without having to go through a rigorous check by their BI officer.

Upon learning of the incident, Tansingco ordered the inclusion of the two Africans in the immigration blacklist to prevent them from entering the Philippines. The foreign nationals were excluded and booked on the first available flight back to their port of origin.