Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, December 23) — The Bureau of Immigration (BI) has ordered the deportation of William Lee O’Brian, the American ex-partner of comedian Pokwang, for violation of the terms and conditions of his stay in the Philippines, the celebrity’s lawyer said on Saturday.
Atty. Rafael Vicente Calinisan said the BI, in its Dec. 12 resolution, also ordered that Lee O’Brian be included in its blacklist upon his deportation. It also ordered the cancellation of his pre-arranged employment visa.
This was after Pokwang, whose real name is Marietta Subong, filed a deportation case in June against her former partner, with whom she has a daughter named Malia.
Pokwang said Lee O’Brian just kept on renewing his tourist visa when his “real purpose” in staying in the country was to find work.
Her lawyer said this violates the Philippine Immigration Act of 1940, which states that any immigration or passport visa “obtained by fraud or willful misrepresentation of fact” shall be canceled.
Calinisan added that the BI took note of Lee O’Brian’s “active involvement in the film, television programs and theatrical industry.”
“We thank the Bureau of Immigration for siding with the truth in our case against Lee O’Brian,” the lawyer said.
“We have been consistent that Lee O’Brian must be made accountable, as his repeated renewal of his tourist visa constitutes fraud and willful misrepresentation of facts, while his work engagements are violations of limitations under which he was admitted as a non-immigrant,” he added.
Pokwang confirmed in a July 2022 interview that she and Lee O’Brian ended their six-year relationship in December 2021.
Even before that, however, she said she had long been trying to fix their relationship for the sake of their child, but that she no longer felt that Lee O’Brian respected her.
“Feeling ko hindi niya ako minahal talaga,” she said in an interview with television host Boy Abunda. “Nagka-anak lang kami pero feeling ko kasi nandyan na.”
[Translation: I feel that he never really loved me. We just have a child together.]
