Belgian terrorist intercepted at Manila airport
He arrives via Etihad flight from Abu Dhabi.
MANILA: A Belgian suspected terrorist on the Interpol list of suspected foreign terrorists has been intercepted at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, a Philippine Bureau of Immigration (BI) official said.
Immigration Commissioner Norman Tansingco in a statement Monday (Feb.12) said that the 31-year-old male passenger, whose name was withheld for security purposes, was refused entry on Feb. 7 at the NAIA’s Terminal 3 for being an undesirable alien.
Tansingco said the Belgian man was turned back after arriving via an Etihad flight from Abu Dhabi. His companion, a 27-year-old Belgian woman, was also turned back for accompanying an excluded alien.
According to Tansingco, the man was flagged after the BI officer who processed him saw that the passenger prompted a hit in his computer’s Interpol derogatory check system.
“Verification made with the BI’s Interpol unit revealed that the Belgian is subject of a diffusion notice issued by the Interpol for the alleged offence of involvement in terrorism-related crime,” Tansingco said.
“The Belgian was excluded pursuant to Sec. 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.”
Tansingco hailed the exclusion as the BI successfully foiled the entry of a foreigner who posed a serious threat to public safety and national security.
“Upon exclusion, the suspect’s name was included in the BI’s blacklist, effectively barring him from re-entering the country.” he said.
The official did not explain further the nature of the man’s alleged terror-related crime and which terror group he was implicated with.
This development apparently renews concern over the presence of foreign terrorists in the Philippines reported by the the nation’s president and defence secretary after a fatal bombing attack in Lanao del Sur province by a pro-Islamic State terror group on Dec. 3 last year.
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Scores of foreign terrorists fought alongside local militants in the 2017 siege on Lanao del Sur’s capital city of Marawi by Islamic State-aligned terror groups.
Government forces liberated the city after a five-month urban battle that left over 1,200 people, mostly militants, killed.