MANILA, Philippines - A confidential agent of the Bureau of Immigration (BI) has been suspended for manhandling a Chinese woman who became unruly at the arrival area of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 3 last Sunday.
BI agent Rashid Rangiris faces an administrative probe while the Chinese, Jiang Huixiang, was deported Tuesday night.
Cell phone video showed Jiang, 38, screaming, flailing her arms and handbag as Rangiris followed her into a hallway.
When Jiang calmed down, Rangiris shoved and slapped her then pushed her into a room, the footage showed.
The uploaded video has sparked outrage among Chinese netizens.
A report submitted by BI supervisor Nelson Valdez said Jiang arrived at the NAIA on a Cebu Pacific flight from Beijing. At the immigration counter, an officer noted that Jiang had multiple extensions of her tourist visa since 2012, and referred her for secondary inspection.
After learning that Jiang has been returning to the country to teach Mandarin in an exclusive school in Manila, BI personnel told her she was working without a permit, in violation of immigration laws, and could not enter the country.
Witnesses said Jiang then shouted at the immigration official, prompting Rangiris to approach and try to calm her down.
BI personnel said Jiang turned her ire on Rangiris, screaming and hurling invectives at him.
Because of the commotion, airline personnel and BI intelligence employees reportedly told Jiang to go to the exclusion room. But this was reportedly met with another barrage of screams and cursing.
BI employees said Jiang lay down on the floor and looked like she had stopped breathing, raising fears that the Chinese was trying to kill herself.
Jiang eventually stood up, but as she approached the door of the exclusion room, she raged at Rangiris.
When she calmed down, Rangiris struck her.
A security guard on duty at the time, Delisia Yap, said Jiang also became unruly earlier in the morning when the guard pushed the Chinese woman’s red luggage from the exclusion room to the transfer lobby.