Another suspected fake Filipino arrested

Philippine News Agency

(Bureau of Immigration, Republic of the Philippines/facebook)

MANILA – Operatives of the Bureau of Immigration’s (BI) intelligence division arrested another Chinese national found to have misrepresented himself as a Filipino.

BI Intelligence Division Chief Fortunato Manahan Jr. reported the arrest of Zhou Jianxiao, 35, last April 10 in Barangay Malainin, Ibaan, Batangas.

Zhou was arrested after allegedly using Philippine documents to pretend that he is a Filipino.

The suspect reportedly used the alias Donny Flores Zhou in his Philippine driver’s license, which states that he is a Filipino national.

Zhou was found to be managing the operations of a warehouse in the area. Further inspection in the location led to the arrest of three more Chinese nationals, identified as Li Qican, Ji Jingui, and Chen Longlong.

They were arrested for various immigration violations, including overstaying, violations of the conditions of their stay, and for working without a proper visa or permit.

BI Commissioner Joel Anthony Viado expressed concern over the rising number of foreign nationals arrested for misrepresenting themselves as Filipinos.

“We deem this as a national security issue, hearing that these foreign nationals are able to embed themselves in the community by posing as Filipinos,” said Viado. “We will continue working with law enforcement authorities and government intelligence forces to be able to locate and arrest other foreign nationals that may have followed suit,” he added.

The BI said that while they have been arresting fake Filipinos for a long time, public interest in said cases rose after the arrest of former Bamban Tarlac Mayor Alice Leal Guo.

“This is another Guo Hua Ping case,” said Viado. “There are more of them, and we will continue to locate them and arrest them,” he said.