Bureau of Immigration (BI) Commissioner Atty. Joel Anthony Viado raised concern on Saturday afternoon after learning of another attempt by foreign nationals on the blacklist to depart the country illegally through a backdoor, also known as an illegal migratory corridor, via a boat in Tawi-Tawi.

The arrest complies with the efforts of President Ferdinand “Bong Bong” Marcos Jr. to maintain national security and border management.

According to Atty. Viado, the BI intelligence operatives arrested two Chinese nationals on Friday. The two suspects were identified as Li Yu, 27, and Liu Fei, 35, after they were spotted by the Tawi-Tawi Maritime Police Station.

The BI chief revealed that the Maritime Police, in conjunction with the 1st Special Operations Unit — Philippine National Police Criminal Investigation Detection Group Provincial Field Unit, Marines Battalion Landing Team 4, 2nd MCIC, and Municipal Inter-Agency Committee Against Trafficking Bongao, reportedly carried out routine foot patrol operations along the waters of Poblacion in Bongao, Tawi-Tawi.

During their surveillance, the patrol team spotted the two Chinese guys on board a ship that arrived from Zamboanga City. They identified themselves by showing the photo image of their passport and claimed that they live in Parañaque City.

The maritime patrolling team immediately coordinated and verified their status with BI, and it was confirmed that the duo’s names appear in the BI’s blacklist after they were tagged in 2023 as undocumented and undesirable aliens for working for an establishment involved in prostitution and labor exploitation. Both have also been tagged by the Chinese government as fugitives as they face cases in China for financial fraud.

Investigation revealed that both Li and Liu traveled to Zamboanga and then to Tawi-Tawi with the intention of boarding a boat to Sabah.

Both arrested Chinese nationals will be transferred to the BI Warden Facility in Camp Bagong Diwa, Taguig City, where they will stay until they are deported back to China.