MANILA -- The Bureau of Immigration (BI) has advised foreigners visiting the country not to be rude and disrespectful towards immigration officers or they will be turned away at the ports for being undesirable aliens.
“The entry and stay of foreigners in the country is not a right but a mere privilege,” BI Commissioner Jaime Morente said. “Thus, they ought to show respect and courtesy to immigration officers upon their arrival in our ports of entry.”
According to Morente, the BI has been strictly implementing a policy to exclude or disallow the entry of foreigner who show disrespect or make offensive utterances to symbols of Philippine authority.
He said such ground for exclusion is listed under a memorandum order that then immigration chief Andrea Domingo issued on March 29, 2001.
The BI chief issued the statement after BI port operations division chief Marc Red Mariñas reported that a total of 74 aliens were barred from entering the country last year for being disrespectful to immigration officers.
Mariñas said Domingo’s memorandum provides not only for the exclusion of a rude foreign passenger but also his inclusion in the immigration blacklist that prevents him from returning to the Philippines.
“This is done to teach these arrogant and discourteous foreigners the lesson that ours is a sovereign country whose authority they should respect,” he said.
It was learned that aside from the 74 aliens who were turned back, there were several foreigners who were blacklisted after they have left the country, also because they were rude to immigration authorities in our subport offices.
An alien blacklisted for being rude may, however, request for his removal from the blacklist to the BI commissioner by citing meritorious reasons and apologizing for his misconduct. (BI PR)
