BI: PH off-limits to sex offenders

FOREIGN sex offenders are strictly barred from entering the Philippines, the Bureau of Immigration (BI) said Monday.

Immigration Commissioner Norman Tansingco issued the warning after BI officers at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) stopped two foreign sex offenders from entering the country.

He warned foreign sex offenders against traveling to the Philippines, as they will be turned away the moment they step on Philippine soil.

«Our country is off-limits to all foreign sex predators, and it is our duty as immigration authorities to see to it that they are prevented from entering our borders to protect our women and children,» he said.

Under the Philippine Immigration Act of 1940, those who have been convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude, including sex offenses, are unwelcome in the country.

Tansingco identified the two sex offenders as Irishman Charles Henry Gabler, 52, and American Mark Halligan, 29.

Gabler was turned back last June 23 upon his arrival via a United Airlines flight from Guam, while Halligan was intercepted on July 4 upon arriving aboard an Emirates flight from Dubai.

Tansingco said both foreigners were placed in the BI blacklist and perpetually barred from entering the Philippines.

Records show that it was Gabler's second time to be turned away at the airport, as he was excluded when he first attempted to come here on Nov. 22, 2022.

Public records show that Gabler was convicted in 2012 for raping a 16-year-old girl.

As for Halligan, US records bared that he was convicted of rape in 2020.