DIGOS CITY, Davao del Sur—Bureau of Immigration (BI) operatives in Mindanao exposed a syndicate where fake Filipino identities are used to establish businesses hiring illegal aliens.
The crackdown aligns with President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s directive to strengthen border security and protect the nation from external threats.
On March 20, 2025, BI intelligence officers arrested Bangdie Pan, who was also known as Ditdit, a 50-year-old Chinese national, in Digos City, Davao del Sur.
Pan was found actively managing a hardware registered under an alleged Filipino citizen whose identity is now under investigation.
According to BI intelligence division deputy chief for Administration & Operations – Mindanao, Melody Penelope Gonzales, the operation, carried out with the support of the Philippine Army’s 39th Infantry Battalion, the 1002nd Brigade, the 10th Infantry Division, the Philippine National Police, and the government intelligence operatives in Region 11, led to Pan’s arrest for violating Philippine immigration laws.
Records revealed that Pan possessed a work visa was issued under a company in Pasig City, but she was found working in an unauthorized capacity in Davao del Sur.
Filipino employees of the said hardware admitted that the said Filipino owner was non-existent, and the documentation for its permits were forged.
Meanwhile, on March 24, BI intelligence operatives, arrested four Chinese nationals identified as Zhongyi Tang, 62; Tianpei Wu, 51; Dezhen Liu, 62; and Wang Lianxu, 53.
The arrest was in coordination with government intelligence agencies in Region 12, National Bureau of Investigation Region 12, Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency Region 12 and officers from the Mlang Municipal Police Station (MPS) under the PNP.
The four were found to be working illegally in a chemical manufacturing plant in Mlang, North Cotabato.
Additionally, the BI obtained a birth certificates and documents showing that Liu misrepresented himself as a Filipino.
Further probing uncovered that the company is registered under a Filipina, who the other employees state they have not seen since the opening of the business. Plant employees admitted that the owner is actually a Chinese man based in Manila.
BI Commissioner Joel Anthony Viado expressed concern about this trend, wherein illegal aliens are able to acquire Philippine documentation to use them in opening businesses in the country.
“These documents and new identities may be used by foreigners with mal-intent, and could be exploited by possible spies embedding themselves in society by pretending to be Filipinos,” he warned.
He called for tighter regulations in the issuance of Filipino documents and identification cards to prevent exploitation by illegal aliens.
All five Chinese nationals face deportation charges with the BI.
