PALAWAN, PHILIPPINES — According to the Bureau of Immigration, four Chinese nationals were detained in Puerto Princesa City, Palawan, last month on suspicion of obtaining official identification documents illegally.
In a statement, Bureau of Immigration (BI) intelligence division chief Fortunato Manahan Jr. identified the four suspects as Wang Tao, Li Xiaoming, Guo Zhi Yang and Lyu Zhiyang, who were arrested in Brgy. San Pedro.
The BI said the operation was coordinated with the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency and the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
Lyu, also known as Ken Garcia Lee, was allegedly the operation’s mastermind and earned notoriety in the local community after being tagged as the group’s leader in Palawan, said the BI.
Lyu supposedly heads the local syndicate providing illegally obtained government-issued documents to undesirable aliens and trafficking victims.
The suspects had several government-issued identification cards, including birth certificates, driver’s licenses, and postal IDs, discovered and confiscated.
“The arresting team of the operation have been working on the case for several months and have kept close coordination with intelligence forces and law enforcement agents to ensure the smooth arrest of the subjects,” said Manahan.
The BI noted that last year, there were at least ten arrests involving foreigners who presented authentic Philippine IDs.
Tansingco also renewed his call to local government units to report to the BI cases of foreign nationals conducting illegal activities in their areas, such as identity fraud.
“These foreign nationals use Philippine documents to avoid inspection, buy property, or even interfere in politics,” said Tansingco.
The BI said the four suspects, facing charges of misrepresentation and undesirability in violation of the Philippine Immigration Act of 1940, had already been transferred to the BI facility in Bicutan, Taguig City.
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