2 new attempts by sex offenders to enter Phl blocked — BI

The Bureau of Immigration (BI) reported that two Americans who had previously been found guilty of sexually abusing youngsters in the US were denied entry on Friday. This indicates that attempts by foreign sexual offenders to enter the nation are still ongoing.

In a report given to BI Commissioner Norman Tansingco, the two passengers were identified as Mark David Scanlon, 53 years old, and Richard Stuart Patterson, 33 years old, who arrived in the country via separate flights at Mactan-Cebu International Airport (MCIA) and Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), respectively.

According to the bureau, Scanlon was intercepted after arriving at MCIA via an Eva Air flight from Taiwan, while Patterson was excluded upon arriving at NAIA Terminal via a Philippine Airlines flight from Los Angeles.

Hours after their admission was refused, both travelers were promptly returned to their ports of origin.

Information obtained by the BI revealed that in 2012, a court in Cook County, Illinois, convicted Scanlon on the charge of indecently soliciting a child over the internet, wherein the victim was only 11 years of age.

Meanwhile, Patterson was convicted in Oregon in May 2011 on the charges of sexual abuse in the second degree and sodomy in the third degree, where the victims were 15 and 13 years of age, respectively.

Once again, the BI chief expressed alarm over the unabated attempts by foreign sex offenders to enter the country.

Tansingco also observed that exclusions of registered sex offenders (RSOs) by immigration officers have almost become a daily trend and are not limited to Manila but can also be encountered in provincial airports such as Cebu.

He states that the bureau is worried that unscrupulous individuals may be promoting sex tourism.

"We will not allow that to happen. We are duty-bound to implement a provision in our immigration act that prohibits the entry of aliens convicted of crimes involving moral turpitude. We will not allow the entry of these undesirable aliens to pose a threat to our women and children," Tansingco declared.