Immigration stops Malaysian from entering country

July 3, 2017

Immigration officers at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) barred a Malaysian who tried to enter the country by assuming the identity of another compatriot last weekend. Bureau of Immigration (BI) Commissioner Jaime Morente said in a statement on Monday 41-year-old Paul Daniel Lim was intercepted last Saturday upon his arrival at the NAIA 3 terminal aboard a Cebu Pacific flight from Kota Kinabalu. Lim, according to Morente, was excluded for using a spurious travel document as the passenger gave his real name and confessed he assumed the identity of the person in the passport that he used in traveling to Manila. BI Port Operations Division Chief Marc Red Marias said Lim aroused the suspicion of the immigration officer who noticed he did not match the picture in the biopage of the passport  he presented. His passport was in the name of a certain Arry Bin Jong, a 37-year-old who in the picture looked different and younger than the passenger. Mariñas said it was during questioning Lim gave his real name and confessed the passport he used was fraudulently acquired. He alleged he was forced to hide his real identity because he is wanted in Malaysia for estafa after he reneged on paying the car loan of a friend he had guaranteed. Mariñas said Lim gave the name of his Filipino contact in whose house in Quezon City he intended to stay. He showed the text of a conversation with the contact where the latter advised him to present a return ticket and tell the immigration officer he was the one who invited the Malaysian to visit Manila. DMS