The Bureau of Immigration (BI) said its officers at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) have intercepted a Belgian man who is on the interpol list of suspected foreign terrorists.
In a statement, Immigration Commissioner Norman Tansingco said that the 31-year-old passenger, whose name was withheld for security purposes, was refused entry last Feb. 7 at the NAIA’s Terminal 3 for being an undesirable alien.
Tansingco said the Belginan man was turned back after arriving via an Etihad flight from Abu Dhabi. His companion, a 27-year-old Belgian woman, was also turned back for accompanying an excluded alien.
According to Tansingco, the man was excluded after the BI officer who processed him saw that the passenger prompted a hit in his computer’s Interpol derogatory check system.
Verification made with the BI’s Interpol unit revealed that the Belgian is subject of a diffusion notice issued by the Interpol for the alleged offense of involvement in terrorism-related crime.
The Belgian was excluded pursuant to Sec. 29 of the Philippine immigration act which forbids the entry of “any alien who believes in, advises, advocates, ore teaches the overthrow by force and violence of constituted law authority.”
Tansingco hailed the exclusion as the BI successfully foiled the entry of a foreigner who pose a very serious threat to public safety and national security.
Upon exclusion, the suspect’s name was included in the BI’s blacklist, effectively barring him from re-entering the country.
