Deported Filipino seaman faces rape charges

The Immigration and Customs Enforcement of the United States government deported a 33-year-old Filipino seaman facing rape charges in Rizal province last Wednesday.

National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Director Reynaldo Wycoco said in a statement that the suspect, Nestor Soriano Sicosana, is now in the custody of the NBI.

Sicosana is wanted for allegedly sexually abusing his 10-year-old niece. Upon learning that charges were filed against him, he reportedly fled when his vessel docked at a port in Philadelphia to avoid returning to the Philippines.

He went into hiding but the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) caught up with him last March in Lake Tahoe, California for violating immigration laws.

He was sent back to the Philippines in compliance with the Extradition Treaty between the two countries.

The US government has been implementing stricter immigration laws after the Sept. 11, 2001 attack on the World Trade Center in New York.

Sicosana was met by agents of the NBI-Interpol Division at the Centennial terminal of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport upon his arrival. — Evelyn Macairan