‘Undocumented’ foreigners in Moalboal: BI still to check on 38 Chinese

CEBU, Philippines — Seven days after the arrest of 38 undocumented Chinese nationals, the Bureau of Immigration (BI) has yet to come to Moalboal town in southern Cebu to assist the police.

Moalboal Police Chief Police Brigido Paca, in an interview with The Freeman last night, lamented that since October 9, no BI personnel arrived to check o the status of the foreign nationals, despite a request they made.

The foreigners were already charged with violating Section 7 of Republic Act (RA) 562 as amended by RA 751, or the Alien Registration Act of 1952.

Section 7 of the law provides that “every alien subject to the provisions of this Act shall, on demand of any immigration official, or a member of the Philippine Constabulary, police, or other peace officer, exhibit his certificate of registration”.

“Pagpangutana namo nila asa ni ilang nga dokumento or passports, wa man silay gipakita. Matud pa sa mga Chinese, with the help of an interpreter, nga pag abot nila sa airport, ang ilang nga passport kay gikuha na. Unya wa sad sila kabalo kinsa to ang nagkuha sa ilang mga passport,” Paca said.

He said that since the foreigners could not be accommodated at the police station jail, the 38 Chinese nationals, are now temporarily staying at the Happy Bear Resort in Barangay Saavedra in Moalboal town where they were caught by authorities.

Paca said they are still waiting for the court to grant their request for a commitment order for the 38 Chinese nationals to be transferred to the custody of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP), either in Cebu City or in Argao town.

“Nagpaabot pa mi sa decision sa court kay nag-request na mi nga makapagawas ang judge og commitment order aron mabalhin na ni namo sila sa BJMP,” he said.

Paca also said that while they managed to seize 39 computers, 233 cellphones, several internet routers and USBs, they could not say yet that a Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (Pogo) hub was operating at Happy Bear since the items had not undergone forensic examination.

“Dili pa gyud ta ka certain nga Pogo hub gyud ni siya until the conduct of the series of investigations are done,” said Paca.

He said six vehicles that were recovered inside the resort are already in the custody of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group-7.

“Naay duha sa unom ka sakyanan kay for registration pa. I-determine pa ni sa LTO (Land Transportation Office) kung kinsay mga tag-iya ani nga sakyanan,” Paca said.

The police raid at the resort last Oct. 9 was the result of a tip received by Moalboal Mayor Inocentes G. Cabaron that the facility was requesting for high-speed internet connection, which he said is an indicator of Pogo or Pogo-like operations.

Based on the tip, Cabaron instructed the municipal Bureau of Fire and Protection to conduct a fire safety inspection on the facility.

When the BFP found several Chinese-looking individuals in the resort, an operation involving the Moalboal police and local government personnel was then conducted.

The raid some two weeks after Paca briefed barangay captains on how to spot Pogo operations in their area, in line with the Philippine National Police’s anti-Pogo campaign.

Prior to the raid, Cabaron has likewise issued an executive order directing all Moalboal barangay captains to closely monitor their jurisdictions for any signs of POGO-related activities.

Paca said the Chinese nationals arrived at the secluded resort on Sept. 28 and that the resort owner was told by a Filipina agent who booked the resort that only three Koreans would rent the place at P200,000 per month.

Paca said that the resort owner, who often stays in Alegria town, told them that he has no knowledge that 38 Chinese individuals were actually the ones occupying the resort.

“Pero subject to further investigation pa ni ang statement sa resort owner. We will also try to find out kung pila ni ka buwan ang gi-book sa Filipina agent,” he said.

Cabaron earlier said that Happy Bear is a legitimate and operational accommodation establishment in their town. —/RH (FREEMAN)