Dutchman who made cop cry held at NAIA

MANILA, Philippines - Immigration officials stopped a Dutch activist, photographed making a police officer cry during a rally against President Aquino outside the House of Representatives last month, from boarding a flight home to the Netherlands yesterday.

Immigration intelligence officer Wilson Soluren said 21-year-old Thomas Alexander van Beersum was held for questioning pending summary deportation proceedings.

Van Beersum was on the Bureau of Immigration’s (BI) alert list order and blacklist, he added.

Soluren said he told Van Beersum that he violated the condition of his stay as a tourist when he joined a political rally.

BI spokeswoman Antonette Mangrobang said Van Beersum entered the country on a tourist visa and violated the conditions of his stay in joining the protest rally.

“His real intention in coming to this country was not for tourism, business or pleasure but to protest against the government and engage in partisan political activity, which proves him undesirable,” she said.

Speaking to reporters, Van Beersum said he’d rather not say anything as it’s   public knowledge that he was in the rally. “I just want to have some sleep while on board the plane bound for the Netherlands,” he said.

Van Beersum’s lawyer, Rey Cortez said immigration authorities were   harassing his client by requiring him to get a clearance to leave the country.

Van Beersum was booked for the next available flight today and banned for life from re-entering the country. 

Under BI procedures, if Van Beersum has no pending criminal charges in the Philippines, he will be sent home.

BI data showed that Van Beersum had visited twice: the first on July 1, 2011; and the second on June 3 this year, when he was admitted as a tourist for 21 days. He was supposed to stay in the Philippines until June 24.

Reports said Van Beersum came to the country as a delegate of the International Conference on Human Rights and Peace in the Philippines. – Rudy Santos, Evelyn Macairan, AP