The Bureau of Immigration (BI) reported last week that three American pedophiles, who had previously been found guilty of sex crimes in the US, were denied entry into the country.

According to BI Commissioner Norman Tansingco, two of the passengers were excluded at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) while the other one was intercepted at the Mactan-Cebu International Airport (MCIA).

Tansingco stated that they were all boarded on the next available flight back to their port of origin. Our country is off limits to those foreign sex predators.

The BI chief explained that any foreign sex offenders are subject to outright exclusion under the Philippine Immigration Act as they were convicted of crimes involving moral turpitude.

On 1 August, James Nicholas Ibach, 36, arrived at the MCIA on board a Starlux Airlines flight from Taipei and was the first to be denied entry.

Ibach was convicted in 2019 for possession and control of obscene photographs depicting a minor in sexual conduct.

On 2 August, 78-year-old Eusebio Garcia Gallegos was the second passenger to be denied entry at NAIA Terminal 3 upon his arrival via a United Airlines flight from Guam. Gallegos was reportedly convicted by a Texas court in 2003 for engaging in indecent acts and contact with a child.

Meanwhile, Clifton Lee Vaughan, 59, was the third passenger to be intercepted on 5 August at the NAIA Terminal 1, where he arrived in the country via an Eva Air flight from Taipei. Vaughan was convicted by a Missouri court in 1983 of sexual abuse in the first degree for committing sodomy against a 10-year-old girl.

As a consequence of their exclusion order, all three passengers' names were included on the immigration blacklist. They are now prohibited from entering the country.