Foreign Fugitives Cannot Hide In The Philippines
UPDATE November 2020
This story is old, but it caught my eye while I was searching for updates. Back in July of this year Michael Kent Clapper was apprehended by the BoI:
Morente said Clapper has allegedly been in an “inappropriate relationship” with a 12-year old girl.The Embassy also stated that Clapper’s US passport already expired, making him an undocumented alien who is subject to summary deportation.“He will be deported for being an undocumented and undesirable alien,” Morente said.
The story caught my eye because he is being deported without being tried for a crime and, if found guilty, serving a sentence in the Philippines. This would be the way it should happen under the Principle of Territoriality.
The BoI was tipped off by the US Embassy, so one way this could have worked is that Clapper made contact with a minor from the US and then traveled to the Philippines. I have found no news to confirm this. That might establish jurisdiction within the US and maybe there was not enough evidence to do so in Philippines' jurisdiction.
If you have details let us know.
UPDATE September 23, 2020: BI Fugitive Search Unit Nabs Big Fish
Bobby Raquepo, head of BI’s Fugitive Search Unit reported the arrest of American Xavier Fernando Monroy, 63, in Barangay Cacutud Angeles City, Pampanga in a joint operation with the Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission, Philippine National Police PRO-4A, Angeles City Police Office, and US authorities.Monroy reportedly has an outstanding warrant of arrest issued by the United States District Court for the District of Columbia last May for Conspiracy, Bribery, False Statements, and Obstruction of Justice.
Xavier Fernando Monroy, 62, a U.S. citizen, was charged in a complaint filed in the District of Columbia with one count of conspiracy to commit bribery, one count of bribery, one count of false statements, and one count of obstruction of justice....According to the affidavit, Monroy also provided Kim with confidential and other proprietary, internal U.S. Navy information. In exchange for the steering of business and the provision of such information, Kim paid bribes to Monroy, including cash, personal travel expenses, meals and alcoholic beverages, and the services of prostitutes.
UPDATE September 9, 2020: Pemberton Freed
US Marine Lance Corporal Joseph Scott Pemberton has been given an absolute pardon by President Duterte. You can be given an absolute pardon once you have served 100% of your sentence. Pemberton has been turned over to BI to arrange his repatriation to the United States.
UPDATE August 17, 2020: Pakistani Bomb Maker's Plans Blow Up
Immigration Commissioner Jaime Morente ordered the BI Legal Division to file charges of immigration law violation against 29-year-old Haroon Bashir, who was arrested last 06 August 2020 at his residence along Atis road, Dacillo Compound, Bgy. San Jose, Puerto Princesa City, Palawan.
“A check of his travel record in our database showed that he arrived in the Philippines on 28 April 2013, and that he never left the country since then,” Morente said.
This guy was able to overstay for seven years when so many others who are not bomb makers get popped much sooner. Just goes to show how good some of these people are at maintaining a low profile.
UPDATE August 6, 2020: American Fugitive Peter Alex Drier
The US embassy disclosed that Drier has an outstanding arrest warrant issued by the policedepartment in San Diego, California for failure to appear and answer an underlying charge of Assault with a deadly weapon.Is this the same person in the Lajolla Village News:
It was further learned that Drier was twice arrested last year on charges of Crimes Against Person and Simple Assault by the San Diego police.
Dreier intentionally rammed a three-wheeled police department scooter. Dreier was driving a red Saab convertible and he knocked the scooter over, briefly trapping the San Diego Police enforcement officer inside.
Dreier pleaded guilty in June before Judge Polly Shamoon to assault with a deadly weapon in which he admitted his vehicle was the weapon.
The person who rammed the traffic cop in San Diego is named Peter Alex Dreier.
The man nabbed by BI is Peter Alex, but the last name is spelled Drier.
The man who rammed the cop was 42 when the article in the Village News was published in July 2017 and would be 45 now just like the Peter Alex Drier who was caught by BI.
Both were charged with assault with a deadly weapon in San Diego.
Another idiot who underestimated the all-seeing-eye.
UPDATE August 6, 2020: Three Koreans Run Clandestine Call Center In Manila
They allegedly deceived the victims by pretending that they are agents of lending institutions,and persuading the former to repay their loans in advance in order to avail of lower interest.These guys have to be very stupid to think that they can escape notice for long.
Korean authorities charged that the fugitives amassed from their phishing activities more than80 million won or roughly more than US$67,000, which the unsuspecting victims deposited into the suspects' bank accounts.
American Fugitive Ricky Masanque Sanchez
Ricky Masanque Sanchez was on parole in California for an attempted murder conviction when he had the brilliant idea to run away to the Philippines. My first thought was how dumb this guy is. He was not wanted for anything. All he had to do was serve his time on parole. Why did he run?
It does not matter why he ran, he ran. A lot of people do it. And many of them are far worse than Sanchez. They run to the Philippines thinking that this is some remote, disconnected land invisible to the rest of the world.
They think that they can blend in here in the Philippines. They think that no one will suspect them of being a fugitive. Maybe they are correct in some cases.
If they keep their nose clean they may get by for a while. If they have family that takes care of them and provide some level of cover they might be able to escape justice for a time.
Your Own Face Is Your Worst Enemy
Eventually, you will post on Face Book with your real name or a fake name and your real photo. All they need is your photo and your running days are over.
Or you will walk into some public place that is monitored by cameras connected to facial recognition servers. Boom. It's all over.
In the not too distant future facial recognition will be used by many government agencies throughout the Philippines in order to track down wanted criminals:
Last June, the Philippines’ Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said the country’s military will soon acquire facial recognition software and drones to help in combatting terrorism.Facial recognition capability is being added to 11,000 Thai 7-11 stores:
“We are looking at facial recognition software so that we can easily track down the bad guys,” Lorenzana told the media.
...Remark will use its KanKan system, which uses gesture recognition to record data on visitor traffic, how long customers spend at each shelf and changes to their emotional state as they move through stores. It will also identify members of 7-Eleven’s loyalty programme, and contains machine learning software enabling it to predict which products should be stocked at particular stores, based on previous purchasing data.Japan is also exploring facial recognition in 7-11 stores. Can the Philippines be far behind?
One of the first things you do when you enter the Philippines is submit your bio-metrics:
BI Commissioner Jaime Morente noted that they have been using the new software called the border control information system (BCIS) in processing all international passengers entering and exiting the premier ports over the past two weeks at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).Sanchez came over in September 2017, before this bio-metric policy was implemented.
“Each time a passenger’s face is captured by camera and his fingers scanned, the results are automatically cross-matched with the passport image and images in the BI database where personal details of persons with derogatory records are stored,” the BI chief said.
There are many agencies in the Philippines that are eager to fulfill their mandate as it relates to you. It is only a matter of time before you come up on one of their radar screens:
The new Philippine Identification System (PhilSys) will include all citizens of the country, along with resident aliens, or expatriates, in the country, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary and National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) Secretary Ernesto M. Pernia says, according to the report.
PhilSys will include thumbprint, iris, and facial biometric data, and it was recently announced that the country’s central bank will produce its biometric ID cards.
A pilot of cloud and artificial intelligence-based video surveillance with facial recognition capabilities from Iveda has been successfully completed in Metro Manila, according to a company announcement.And as if facial recognition was not enough, now fugitives need to be concerned with gait analysis. Shoe stores in Manila are getting people warmed up to gait analysis because it can be used to help you find the perfect fitting shoe. But gait analysis holds the potential to become even more powerful than facial recognition in its ability to uniquely identify individuals.
There Are Eyes Everywhere In The Philippines
Technology does not even need to get involved to end your villainous vacation.
Immigration Memorandum Circular No. SBM-2014-017 provides for a reward of up to 2,000 PHP for anonymous tips that lead to the arrest of an "overstaying" foreigner.
2,000PHP may not sound like much money to you, but to Filipinos it is easy money for turning in an undocumented, overstaying and or criminal foreigner.
So you can expect the Bureau of Immigration Fugitive Search Unit to show up at your place at any moment.
If The Locals Do Not Get You The Expats Will
Expats who are following the law and doing right do not want to have their good names blackened by bad actors and criminals.
So if you are thinking about fleeing to the Philippines because you think you can just disappear...
think again.
You are not as invisible as you think you are.