Philippine Immigration Blocks Entry of Six American Sex Offenders in January

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In a move to protect Filipino children, the Bureau of Immigration (BI) in the Philippines successfully prevented six American sex offenders from entering the country last month. The BI’s Commissioner, Joel Anthony Viado, announced that five of these individuals were stopped at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) in Manila, while one was intercepted at the Mactan airport in Cebu. The decision to bar these individuals was based on their inclusion in the BI’s database of registered sex offenders (RSOs). Commissioner Viado emphasized that this action aligns with President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s pledge to safeguard children and keep foreign criminals, particularly those with sexual offense histories, out of the Philippines. The BI utilized a provision in the Philippine immigration law that denies entry to foreigners convicted of crimes involving moral turpitude. According to Ferdinand Tendenilla, head of the BI’s border control and intelligence unit, all six were promptly returned to their points of origin. Among those intercepted were Rodrigo Navarro, convicted in 2014 for possessing obscene materials involving a minor; Wayne Mitchell Blakely, convicted in 2002 for molesting a 15-year-old; Raymund Campado Falguera, convicted in 2014 by a court martial for sexually abusing a minor; Robert William Harper, convicted in 1999 for criminal sexual conduct; David Scott Dennis, convicted in 2000 for five counts of first-degree child molestation involving a 6-year-old; and Joseph Jerome Dumas, convicted in 2018 for possessing child sexual abuse material. These exclusions are part of the BI’s ShieldKids Program, which aims to protect Filipino children from foreign predators through collaboration with local and international law enforcement agencies.