LAGAWE, Ifugao – Personnel of the Bureau of Immigration (BI) arrested four alleged overstaying Chinese nationals who are working in a power plant for violation of immigration laws.
BI agents from the regional intelligence operations unit in the Cordillera and Cagayan Valley arrested the four Chinese nationals in the municipality during the conduct of a joint operation with other law enforcement agencies.
Yang Yongxiang, 53, was arrested at the Ibulao power plant for overstaying with an expired visa and working without the requisite permits from concerned government agencies like the BI and the Department of labor and Employment (DOLE).
Further, his Chinese companions Yuan Tonghua and Zeng Jiakuan were also taken into custody by the BI personnel for failing to present valid passports and other necessary immigration documents to justify their stay in the country.
The three Chinese nationals were reportedly working as engineers and supervisors in the power plant despite not having the required legal documents to work in the country.
At the same time, Gan Yiyun, 29, and wife of one of the three arrested Chinese nationals was arrested during the conduct of a follow-up operation after being found to be illegally working in the country and alleged misrepresentation.
BI agents also found that she failed to report her change of residence that violated the country’s registration laws and the Philippine Immigration Act.
Her visa showed that she was employed in Manila but she had been reportedly residing and working in the Ifugao-based power plant since last year based on the initial findings of the immigration bureau.
The arrested Chinese nationals are now detained in Taguig City pending the ongoing deportation proceedings being conducted against them by the BI.
Earlier, the government launched a massive crackdown against undocumented aliens considering that the Philippines is not a haven for illegal and abusive foreign nationals.
The Ibulao power plant is owned and managed by a reputable renewable energy company that also owns and operates various hydro power plants in various parts of the country.
Ifugao officials were surprised over the reported presence of undocumented foreign nationals working in some big power projects in the province and urged companies to make sure that their foreign workers possess the requisite documentary requirements from concerned agencies to avoid similar incidents that might taint a bad image of Ifugao from the perception of the public.
Both the provincial and municipal governments are now working with concerned government agencies on how to strictly monitor the foreign workers being employed by various companies operating in the different parts of the province to make sure that they possess the necessary documents before working in whatever facilities in the locality.
Ifugao is popular among foreign and domestic tourists because it hosts the Banaue rice terraces which has been enshrined as the 8th Wonder of the world and a heritage site declared by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). By Dexter A. See
