Bureau of Immigration (BI) officers on Wednesday, 4 October, intercepted a newly arrived Thai passenger, who claimed to be deaf-mute, for pretending to be a Filipino at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 3 in Pasay City.

The BI-NAIA identified the intercepted passenger as Sengaloun Phimpa. He was stopped upon his arrival at NAIA Terminal 3 via an AirAsia flight from Bangkok, after presenting a fake Philippine passport.

According to Immigration Officer Cristine Niepes, Phimpa claimed to be deaf-mute when he presented his suspicious passport at the immigration counter.

Upon inspection, Niepes found numerous inconsistencies in his travel document, prompting her to subject him to a tertiary inspection with the bureau's forensic documents laboratory.

After a forensic inspection, it was revealed that Phimpa presented a fraudulent passport with a counterfeit immigration stamp and Thai visa.

The BI official at NAIA also found in his possession a Philippine TIN ID, a Philippine postal ID, and other Thai documents.

BI Commissioner Norman Tansingco said that they have reason to suspect that this man is pretending to be deaf-mute to avoid having to speak the local language

Tansingco added that Phimpa's case will undergo further investigation, and if proven to be a foreign national, he will be transferred to the BI Warden Facility in Camp Bagong Diwa while he awaits the resolution of his deportation case.

Meanwhile, the BI chief lauded the alertness of Niepes in detecting the fraud.

"Immigration officers are given the tough job of border control and protecting the country from illegal aliens," said Tansingco. "The alertness of our personnel deserves commendation," he added.