A total of 37 Chinese nationals were apprehended by the Bureau of Immigration (BI) after they were discovered to be working illegally on a Cotabato City construction site.

BI Commissioner Atty. Joel Anthony Viado revealed that the Chinese nationals were arrested last 13 November to be working in the construction of a shopping mall in BARMM.

They were arrested on the basis of a mission order issued by Viado following information received by the Bureau from government intelligence sources that the building was being built by illegal aliens.

The said operations were carried out in coordination with the Armed Forces of the Philippines together with the National Bureau of Investigation.

According to the arresting officers, the majority of those individuals who were arrested were able to present a 9(g) working visa but were petitioned by a different company; this is a clear violation of the conditions of their visa. A handful were unable to present their documentation, while the rest were merely holding tourist visas.

Once again, Atty. Viado warned foreign nationals who attempted to work in the country without appropriate permits or visas. The BI chief added that in order to effectively remove illegal aliens from the country, government intelligence agencies are closely coordinating to gather and share information.

All 37 foreign nationals are charged with deportation, and they will remain in the BI custody pending their deportation proceedings.

anthony ching