BI denies entry to alleged foreign terrorist in NAIA

MANILA, Philippines — A Belgian national has been denied entry into the country for being allegedly involved in a terrorism-related crime.

In a press release on Monday, Immigration Commissioner Norman Tansingco said that the 31-year-old Belgian National was intercepted at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport last Wednesday after being flagged at the Interpol’s derogatory check system.

“The Belgian was excluded pursuant to Section 29 of the Philippine Immigration Act which forbids the entry of ‘any alien who believes in, advises, advocates, or teaches the overthrow by force and violence of constituted law authority,’” the agency’s press release read.

The agency said that it had confirmed from its Interpol unit that the Belgian national is the subject of an Interpol diffusion notice for suspected involvement in terrorism-related activities.

According to the Interpol, a diffusion notice is “issued for the same purposes as notices but sent directly by a member country or an international entity to the countries of their choice.”

Aside from the Belgian national flagged by Interpol, his companion, a 27-year-old woman of the same nationality, was likewise denied entry for accompanying an undesirable alien.

The BI further stated that the foreign nationals were listed on the agency’s blacklist, preventing them from re-entering the country.