BAP exec’s passport cancelled for fraud

The Department of Foreign Affairs cancelled yesterday the Philippine passport of Basketball Association of the Philippines (BAP) secretary-general Graham Chua Lim and declared him a Chinese citizen after it established that the controversial cage official obtained his passport fraudulently.

"It has been established that Mr. Lim is a Chinese citizen and the Philippine passports previously issued to him were obtained through fraud," said the DFA’s Office of Consular Affairs through director Bernardita Catalla in a letter to international referee Liberato Valenzuela.

Valenzuela along with disgruntled BAP officials had sought the deportation of Lim for allegedly faking his claim to Filipino citizenship.

Lim, through lawyer Bonifacio Alentajan, actually sought the dismissal of the complaint, saying it was unverified and unsworn and that he cannot be deported since he has been a continuous resident of the Philippines since birth and won’t be accepted by any other country.

Lim was born in Manila on Feb. 7, 1957 to Chinese parents and that he is registered as a "native-born Chinese." — Dante Navarro