BAP exec’s passport is put on hold

The Bureau of Immigration (BI) blacklisted yesterday Basketball Association of the Philippines (BAP) secretary general Graham Chua Lim’s Philippine passport for his being a Chinese citizen.

Lim, 46, a Chinese citizen born in Tondo, Manila to Chinese parents, is also facing deportation for allegedly faking his Filipino citizenship.

The BI board of commissioners has yet to decide the deportation case, which is now being heard by the BI board of special inquiry.

Immigration Commissioner Andrea Domingo ordered the blacklisting of Lim’s passport with control number ZZ060716 issued on June 11, 2000 upon the request of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).

Assistant Secretary Teresita Barsana of the DFA’s Office of the Consular Affairs said the DFA earlier cancelled Lim’s Philippine passport upon learning that the BAP official is a Chinese citizen.

The blacklist order, Domingo said authorizes immigration officers at the airport to confiscate Lim’s Philippine passport, which should be turned over to the DFA when the BAP official attempts to leave the country.

Earlier, BI prosecutor Arvin Santos charged that Lim misrepresented himself as a Filipino and fraudulently secured a Philippine passport, a violation of the Philippine Immigration Act.

Records showed that Lim is now facing a deportation complaint filed by former basketball referee Liberato Valenzuela and former BAP secretary general Emmanuel Perez de Tagle. Both Valenzuela and de Tagle submitted documents showing that Lim is a Chinese citizen.

The immigration bureau said Lim’s petition for naturalization as a Filipino citizen was dismissed by a Manila Regional Trial Court on Feb. 8, 1995. A similar petition was also filed with the special committee on naturalization of the Office of the Solicitor General has not yet been approved.