• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
An overstaying Chinese national was intercepted by the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) at the Manta-angan Port in E.B. Magalona, Negros Occidental on Tuesday (April 28).
The 42-year-old foreigner, a resident of Urumqi, China, was not allowed to board the passenger vessel bound for Ajuy, Iloilo after he failed to present documents supporting his stay in the Philippines, the Police Regional Office-Negros Island Region (PRO-NIR) said in a report.
The Chinese national said that his travel documents and personal belongings got lost at a hotel in Makati in 2018.
He also claimed that he had been staying in Luzon, Cebu and Dumaguete City in Negros Oriental for almost eight years.
PCG personnel turned him over to the custody of the Bureau of Immigration for further investigation.
Commodore Christopher Auro, PCG District Southern Visayas commander, said the Chinese national came from Bicol, Cebu, Dumaguete and Bacolod until he was intercepted in E.B. Magalona.
Authorities are further checking his background to determine if he is connected to the 10 Chinese nationals arrested during the raid of an illegal cigarette manufacturing operation in Bago City on April 23. | GB
