(Photo from the Bureau of Immigration)
BI intelligence division (ID) Chief Fortunato Manahan, Jr. stated that they conducted surveillance and gathered evidence for several months after receiving reports of Chinese nationals boarding and disembarking marine vehicles in Manila Bay.
BI Intelligence Division personnel, in cooperation with the Armed Forces of the Philippines, apprehended the nine Chinese nationals as they descended from the boats and were about to board a waiting van in Manila Bay, part of Parañaque City.
The arrested individuals, aged between 33 to 54, were identified as Li Weilin, Liu Peng, Wang Yong, Huang Haibing, Gong Yuan Ju, Zhang Tao, Dai Guang Yuan, Li Jiang Yu, and Kang Tian De.
Four of them had passports and 9G visas from their petitioning engineering company in the Philippines. However, the other five were without documents.
The BI also stated that while the four documented individuals were registered with a company in Pasay City, there's a possibility they were working at a site where excavation was happening, which is a violation of their working visa.
"We have reason to suspect that these individuals are engaging in illegal work in vessels along Manila Bay. Their visas limit their work to a company in Pasay City and nowhere else. Foreign nationals with valid working visas, if found to be working in a different company, are violating the conditions of their stay," according to BI Chief Norman Tansingco.
The nine Chinese nationals are currently detained at the BI Warden Facility in Camp Bagong Diwa, Taguig City.
