By Ferdinand Patinio | Philippine News Agency
Immigration authorities arrested seven Chinese nationals found to be illegally working in a quarry in Batangas province on Wednesday.
In a news release Thursday, the Bureau of Immigration (BI) said the operation was initially aimed at apprehending a certain Wang Zhenglai, 34, who has a working visa but was found to have been petitioned by a fake company.
However, officers from the BI’s Regional Intelligence Operations Unit and the Taysan Municipal Police Station also apprehended six other Chinese men found to be illegally working in the same area.
They were identified as Wang Shou Min, 67; Gao Zhengyao, 47; Wang Yongshang, 31; Song Ke Wei, 33; Cai Wenbi, 33; and Huang Hai Min, 39.
Out of the six other foreigners, five were found to have a 9(g) working visa but were petitioned by companies located in Quezon City while one was found to be working with a tourist visa.
Further investigation also showed that Wang Shou Min was the mining company’s “big boss” and the father of Zhenglai.
Meanwhile, Commissioner Norman Tansingco reiterated that working visas are both company-specific and station-specific.
“Foreign nationals who possess a working visa but found to be petitioned by fake companies or caught to be working in other locations may face deportation cases,” the BI chief added.
Tansingco noted that the arrest stemmed from intelligence information that some Chinese nationals were working illegally in mining operations.
