Fake Pinoy nabbed at NAIA
Credit to Author: Tempo Desk| Date: Sun, 07 Apr 2019 06:36:58 +0000
Bureau of Immigration (BI) officers have arrested an American at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) for attempting to enter the country with a fake Philippine passport.
In a report to BI Commissioner Jaime Morente, port operations chief Grifton Medina, disclosed that 49-year-old Elmer Doller was apprehended early Saturday when he arrived at the NAIA 3 terminal aboard a Qatar Airways flight from Doha.
Medina said the fraudulent passport immediately drew the attention of the immigration officer when he noticed that the document has no security feature and could not be detected when scanned using the passport reader.
Medina said the alien initially claimed his passport was genuine because his mother is a Filipina, but confessed later that he got it from a friend in Cavite.
BI’s travel control and enforcement unit (TCEU) chief Erwin Ortañez reported that the passenger could not explain how he became a Filipino when under the 1935 Constitution only those born to Filipino fathers are considered Philippine citizens.
“He also did not elect Philippine citizenship upon reaching the age of majority nor applied for recognition as a Philippine citizen,” Ortañez said.
Meanwhile, TCEU officers at NAIA terminal 1 apprehended also last Saturday a Filipina who tried to leave the country for Spain with a fake Schengen visa.
NAIA 1-TCEU head supervisor Glenn Ford Comia said the passenger aroused the suspicion of immigration officers after she claimed that she was vacationing in Barcelona for 11 days, although the return ticket and hotel booking she presented was good for only three days.
The BI’s forensic laboratory later certified that the said visa is indeed counterfeit.
The woman was turned over to the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT) for investigation and assistance. (Jun Ramirez)