The Philippine government, through the Bureau of Immigration (BI), is preparing for the deportation of a Taiwan national for his reported involvement in illegal drugs.
The immigration agency identified the Taiwanese man as Lee Chun Hsien, 49, who was arrested by the agents of the Immigration Fugitive Search Unit at his residence in Cavite City.
According to immigration agents, Lee had been evading Taiwan authorities and discreetly left for the Philippines eight years ago. The same agents also noted that Lee had been overstaying in the country and thus the authorities became suspicious of him.
Immigration Commissioner, Jaime Morente, told Philippine journalists that Lee is already an overstaying alien in the Philippines.
Moreover, Morente also said that officials of the Taipei Cultural Economic Office (TECO) requested his office to arrest Lee after informing the BI office of his presence in the country.
Based on immigration records, Lee landed in the Philippines on December 10, 2009, as a tourist visa and applied for an extension of his visa. However, since his visa expired, he no longer applied for a second visa extension.
Records also show that Taoyuan District Prosecutor's Office issued the arrest warrant against Lee on December 29, 2010. The TECO, on the other hand, refused to elaborate the criminal offenses Lee committed.
Another BI official, lawyer Ma. Antonette Manrobang said that Lee has actually become an undocumented alien when the Taiwan government cancelled Lee's passport. Under Philippine Laws, the deportation order will be approved by the Immigration's board of commissioners.
Taiwan and the Philippines have been monitoring Taiwanese overstaying in the Philippines. If someone is getting nabbed, the officers are running a thorough investigation to check if they have pending criminal cases in their home countries.
Lately, authorities have noted that fugitives prefer to fly to the Philippines to evade police from arresting them because of the easy application visa access to the Philippines.
