The Philippines had been welcoming to foreign tourists in 2022, but not to fugitives and unsavory characters from abroad, including sex offenders, fraudsters and members of criminal syndicates.

The same open arms for legitimate tourists and the mailed-fist treatment for undesirable aliens are expected to continue in 2023 as the country tries to bounce back from the Covid-19 pandemic.

With the Bureau of Immigration and the National Bureau of Investigation collaborating, the country arrested 372 illegal aliens found to be involved in unauthorized online gaming operations.

On top of that number, the visas of 48,782 foreigners, with 1,424 already ordered to leave the country, had been canceled, according to BI.

The BI added that the move to weed out illegal online gaming operators was done in coordination with the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation.

BI Commissioner Norman Tansingco said that for 2023 and the years ahead, the bureau would "anticipate, innovate and motivate."

"These are the agency's direction in the next years," Tansingco said. "Anticipate what is needed, innovate to improve our services, and motivate each other to be the best public servants."

Tansingco stressed the BI would continue to screen out troublemakers.

"We celebrate a new beginning for the bureau. Despite the many issues and challenges in the past, we look forward to a better future," Tansingco said.

Among the notable arrests conducted with the help of BI last year was that of South Korea's Lee Won Ho, tagged by Interpol as the head of a telecom scam syndicate victimizing Koreans.

China's Fu Qihao was also nabbed and sent back to China to face pyramiding charges. Last October, a scammer from Ghana masquerading as a missionary in the Philippines was collared for his involvement in automated teller machine hackings in the country.

In what should further improve the country's international standing in the prevention of human trafficking, John Crotty, a 64-year-old British convicted of sex crimes was arrested.