IMMIGRATION officers at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) have arrested a Malaysian who attempted to enter the country by passing as a Taiwanese national.
Bureau of Immigration (BI) port operations chief Grifton Medina reported that the alien was intercepted last January 14 at the arrival area of the NAIA terminal 2, alighting from a Philippine Airlines flight from Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
The Malaysian was identified as Yap Kean Hwa, 30, who assumed the name Tsou Chang Chen in his counterfeit Taiwanese passport.
Medina said they received information that Yap is a suspected fugitive wanted in Malaysia, explaining his attempt to use a different name and passport.
The Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (TECO) in Manila later confirmed that the Taiwanese passport used was reported stolen in 2017 and was issued to a different person.
BI Commissioner Jaime Morente commended the officers involved in the arrest.
Yap is currently detained in the bureau’s warden facility in Bicutan, Taguig, pending his prosecution for violating immigration laws. (Jun Ramirez)
