BI mulls deportation case vs. actor Tony Labrusca

FILE: Waiting on you boo (Photo: @tony.labrusca/Instagram)

MANILA — A deportation case is being pushed against television and movie actor Tony Labrusca before the Bureau of Immigration (BI).

“The (Intelligence Division) recommended to Legal (Division) the filing of deportation case against Labrusca for working without permit I think,” BI Deputy Commissioner Tomas Javier said in an interview Wednesday.

Javier said there is no charge sheet yet against the actor, noting that the recommendation for his deportation is being reviewed by the BI’s Legal Division.

The BI official admitted that he received information that the actor, who holds an American passport, has filed a petition for recognition as a Filipino citizen.

“I was informed that Tony Labrusca also filed a petition for recognition as a Filipino citizen, considering that both his parents are Filipinos,” Javier added.

Once Labrusca’s petition has been granted, the deportation case would be moot and academic.

Javier said the process of the petition for recognition involves a hearing with the BI Board of Special Inquiry (BSI).

“We would process it, may hearing pa ‘yan (there will be a hearing) with our BSI, then it (BSI) would recommend to the Department of Justice for confirmation if they find sufficient basis for the granting of recognition,” he noted.

Among the requirements for the petition to be granted, the BI official said, is that one or both parents of the petitioner are Filipinos.

“In the case of Labrusca, his father I think all the way, Filipino. His mother, I have no idea, baka nag convert to (maybe she has already converted her citizenship to) American, pero ‘yung (but the) father ay (is a) Filipino,” Javier said.

Labrusca is the son of local actor Boom Labrusca and model Angel Jones.

The actor drew flak for allegedly disrespecting an immigration officer at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) after he was only given a 30-day stay in the country.