The Bureau of Immigration (BI) on Sunday reported that its operatives at airports apprehended four Americans and a Briton for being sex offenders as they tried to enter the country recently.

BI commissioner Norman Tansingco revealed that four of the pedophiles were apprehended at Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), while one was turned away at Mactan-Cebu International Airport (MCIA).

Tansingco said that all of the apprehended passengers are registered sex offenders (RSO) with prior convictions for sex offenses in their country.

The BI chief added that the suspects were already on the BI blacklist and hence were permanently barred from entering the country. They were denied entry because their presence in the country presented a serious threat to our women and children.

Reports disclosed that one Alexander Balay was apprehended at NAIA Terminal 1 on 21 May arriving in the Philippines via a Philippine Airlines flight from Tokyo. An Alabama court convicted Balay of possessing and intending to disseminate child pornography.

The next day, a certain British national identified as Vincent John Cherer was turned away at NAIA Terminal 1 after arriving on an Air China flight from Chengdu, China. Cherer was previously found guilty of child sexual abuse in the United Kingdom.

On 27 May, American Wallance Lynn Wendel was also excluded at NAIA Terminal 1, when he had arrived in the country via a Korean Air flight from Incheon. An Arizona court convicted Wendel of sexual assault and was found guilty of killing and burglary.

Another American, identified as Kevin Edwin Daughtrey, was also denied entry at the MCIA after arriving in the country via an Eva Air flight from Taipei on 27 May, as a Florida court convicted Daughtrey of sexual crimes against a juvenile.