Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 11) — A Korean national was arrested at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) after attempting to leave the country with a Philippine passport which the Bureau of Immigration (BI) later determined to be genuine.
BI Commissioner Norman Tansingco said the 43-year-old man who used a Filipino name on his Philippine passport was apprehended on Monday at NAIA Terminal 2 while awaiting his trip to Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
According to the BI, the man also presented a Philippine driver’s license and a postal ID but could not answer basic questions in any Filipino dialect. He was also unable to describe details about his identity, including the names of his parents and his alleged wife and child, despite the use of a Korean translation application.
“Upon interview, the alien admitted that he used to have a Korean passport, and he obtained his Philippine passport through another Korean national,” BI Intelligence Chief Fortunato Manahan Jr. said.
Tansingco said the BI is seeking an investigation into the fraudulently acquired Philippine passport.
There have been many instances in the past of foreign nationals obtaining Philippine documents through misrepresentation and illegal means that have been stopped by our alert officers,” the BI chief said.
