All but one of 167 Chinese nationals engaged in offshore gambling and caught in a raid in Bamban, Tarlac were deported on Tuesday.
The Bureau of Immigration (BI) said one of the Chinese was deferred departure after she was found to have a pending estafa case in the country.
The Chinese Embassy in Manila said the deportation was the result of close coordination between Filipino and Chinese law enforcement authorities and demonstrates the two nations’ “strong determination” to jointly combat fraud, kidnapping and other crimes related to offshore gambling.
“The Chinese government has always taken tough measures to combat gambling,” the Embassy said in a statement.
The certificate of candidacy (COC) of Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo.
“The Chinese Embassy in the Philippines will continue to strengthen practical law enforcement cooperation with the Philippine side, and support the latter in addressing the root cause of crimes related to offshore gambling,” it added.
The embassy underscored that online gambling, cross-border gambling by Chinese nationals, and running casinos outside China to solicit Chinese nationals are illegal in China.
The Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) said the Chinese worked at a “scam hub” in Bamban.
PAOCC Undersecretary Gilbert Cruz said in a television interview that they failed to present working visas and passports during the raid at the Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (POGO) compound early March.
The official said those directly involved will face human trafficking charges.
Cruz said 40 more Chinese nationals are set for deportation soon
In a statement, Immigration Commissioner Norman Tansingco said the Chinese nationals boarded a Philippine Airlines flight to Shanghai Pudong airport from the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 in Pasay City.
He said they are now included in the BI blacklist which bars them from re-entering the Philippines.
Guo's poll docs submitted to Senate
Meanwhile, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) submitted the certificate of candidacy (COC) and statement of contributions and expenditures or SOCE of embattled Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo to the Senate Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations and Gender Equality.
The Comelec submitted the documents via email on May 10, and the Senate panel shared them with the media on Tuesday.
According to Guo's COC, she declared Tarlac, Tarlac, as her place of birth.
Her COC states that as of the day before the May 9 elections, she had lived in the Philippines for 35 years and two months and in the municipality of Bamban, Tarlac, for 18 years and two months.
The 37-year-old mayor also signed a declaration affirming that she is a Filipino citizen and not a permanent resident of, or an immigrant to, a foreign country.
On Monday, the poll body said nobody filed a disqualification case against Guo.
Comelec Chairman George Erwin Garcia made the clarification after senators and netizens raised doubts over how Guo was able to run for a local post, amid questions on her nationality and her alleged links to POGOs.
"Nakalagay din po sa batas at sa desisyon ng Korte Suprema, walang power ang Comelec mag-motu proprio mag-disqualify ng (The law and a Supreme Court decision says the Comelec has no power to motu proprio disqualify a) candidate based on age, citizenship, residency, registration as a voter and literacy or ability to read and write," Garcia said in an interview.
He said Guo filed her application to be a registered voter in April 2021, more than a year ahead of the May 2022 polls. PNA
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