BI urges filing charges against resort owners who allow facilities to be used for illegal activities

The Bureau of Immigration (BI) has recommended filing charges against resort owners who allow foreigners to use their facilities for illegal activities.

Immigration Commissioner Norman Tansingco made the call following the raid on an illegal online gaming hub last Saturday, August 31, at a resort in Barangay (village) Agus in Lapu-Lapu City, Cebu.

“We propose that authorities file cases against resort owners who allow their properties to be used by illegal aliens in their covert operations,” Tansingco said in a statement.

“This will serve as a warning to those who attempt to start illegal online gambling activities, which have already been banned by the President,” he stressed.

The raid in Lapu-Lapu City was conducted by BI operatives in collaboration with the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC), the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), the Philippine Center on Transnational Crime (PCTC), the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT) and the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).

The BI said that more than During the raid on the resort, 100 foreigners were arrested.

The raid was carried out based on information from Tansingco mission order against 13 illegal aliens who were checked for overstaying their stay and working without a permit at the resort.

“During the raid, hundreds of foreigners were found involved in illegal online gambling activities at makeshift workstations in the resort,” the BI said.

“The arrested foreigners will undergo judicial investigation and temporary detention before being deported,” the report said.