The Bureau of Immigration disclosed that it has deported on Wednesday 17 Chinese nationals — the third round of deportations related to illicit internet gambling in the country.

According to BI commissioner Norman Tansingco, the 17 Chinese nationals boarded Philippine Airlines flight PR316 bound for Wuhan, China.

To recall, the BI has already deported six Chinese nationals in October and 21 others were deported on 2 November.

Tansingco said that the 17 Chinese nationals are part of the more than 300 foreign nationals set to be deported by the agency after being arrested by local law enforcement agencies for involvement in illegal online gambling.

He also said that Department of Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla is closely monitoring the implementation of the deportations and they are regularly submitting reports on the status of the rest of the deportees to the DoJ.

Those deportees are automatically included in the BI's blacklist, effectively barring them from returning to the Philippines.