BI deports Chinese trader for illegally working in RP

For allegedly hiring a gun-for-hire to eliminate her business rival, a Chinese national was arrested by operatives of the Bureau of Immigration (BI) and was ordered deported for illegally working in the country.

In a report to Immigration Commissioner Nonoy Libanan, BI-law enforcement division assistant chief Epifanio Lambino Jr. identified the suspect as Zheng Chen Jian, 25, who was arrested inside a stall which he operates at the Divisoria Mall in Tondo, Manila.

Zheng was arrested on the basis of a warrant of deportation that Libanan issued against him last Sept. 23.

Libanan’s warrant stemmed from a summary deportation order that the BI board of commissioners issued against Zheng last Aug. 27 for illegal working in the country.

The BI chief added that the arrest and deportation of Zheng should serve as a warning to foreigners who are enjoying a working visa not to abuse the terms and conditions of their visa.

“Lest be forewarned that the bureau will not hesitate to issue deportation order against any foreigner who violates the conditions of their visa,” Libanan stressed.

Atty. Antonio Rivera, head of the BI-Deportation Unit reported that Zheng was deported yesterday (Sept. 30) aboard a China Southern Airlines bound to Xiamen, China.

According to BI Executive Director Franklin Littaua, who supervises BI intelligence operations, a certain Alicia Sison, a businesswomen of Tutuban, Manila, had earlier filed a complaint against Zheng alleging that the latter contracted an assassin to kill her for a fee of P60,000.

Instead of carrying out his mission, however, the would-be assassin reported the matter to the police and identified Zheng as the mastermind of the murder plot.

Littaua said this prompted the PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) to file charges of grave threat against Zheng before the Manila city prosecutor’s office.

It was also the CIDG which referred Zheng’s case to the BI so the latter could be investigated for possible immigration law violations.

Lambino said investigation revealed that although the Chinese national holds a valid working visa, as he works for a company other than the firm or employer which petitioned for the issuance of a working visa on his behalf.

Zheng will thus be deported for violating the conditions of his visa and for being an undesirable alien, Lambino added. (BI News)