MANILA, Philippines — The Bureau of Immigration has intercepted two Chinese nationals attempting to leave the country pretending to be nationals of Costa Rica.
In a statement on Thursday, October 24, the bureau revealed that the two Chinese nationals used Costa Rican passports in an attempt to bypass Canada’s entry visa requirements for Chinese citizens while trying to travel to Canada.
The two Chinese nationals Wang Songyi, 54, and Liao Fudi, 50, were intercepted at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 1 last October 19 before their Philippine Airlines flight to Kuala Lumpur.
The scheme was foiled when Immigration officers processing the two passengers spotted irregularities in the Costa Rican passports they presented.
Upon inspection, the bureau’s forensic documents lab determined that the Philippine immigration arrival stamps on the passports were fake.
Additionally, the passengers could not speak Spanish, Costa Rica's official language.
During the interview, after being questioned about their true nationality, they revealed their Chinese passports, which also contained fake immigration arrival stamps.
The individuals were handed over to the immigration border control and intelligence unit and later transferred to the bureau’s detention center at Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City while deportation cases were filed against them.