The Bureau of Immigration (BI) has achieved notable success in its campaign against child exploitation, reporting a decrease in foreign sex offenders attempting to enter the Philippines. The BI attributes this success to collaborative efforts with government agencies and the implementation of Project #ShieldKids, which aims to harmonize government efforts against sex offenders. Commissioner Joel Anthony Viado emphasized the BI's commitment to protecting children and urged citizens to report any suspected predators.
The Bureau of Immigration's (BI) campaign against child exploitation is yielding positive results, with a notable decrease in the number of foreign sex offenders attempting to enter the country. Immigration Commissioner Joel Anthony Viado attributed the campaign's success to the collaborative efforts of various government agencies involved in investigating and apprehending pedophiles and traffickers.
In 2024, the BI launched Project #ShieldKids, a joint initiative with the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT) and the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD). This project aims to strengthen government efforts against sex offenders by establishing a communication network among relevant agencies. According to BI records, the bureau prevented 137 foreign nationals from entering the country in 2024 due to their status as registered sex offenders, a decline from 169 in 2023. Americans accounted for the majority of those barred, with 109 offenders, followed by 12 Britons, five Australians, three Germans, and two Canadians. 'This decline demonstrates that our message is clear: we will continue to deny entry to these predators,' stated Viado. The BI has also arrested several pedophiles within the Philippines, including French pedophile Theddy Douglas Tissier in Makati last December and octogenarian pedophile David John Buckley in Cebu last November. Viado emphasized the seriousness of the threat against children, noting a surge in attempts by sexual predators to enter the country following the post-pandemic reopening of borders. He urged citizens to report any suspected sexual predators in their communities to the BI, stating, 'By protecting our children, we safeguard our future. Let us all contribute to shielding the most vulnerable from these undesirable individuals.'In addition to its child protection efforts, Viado highlighted the BI's successful system integration with the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) and the Commission on Filipino Overseas (CFO). This collaboration has significantly curbed the use of fraudulent documents for travel. A joint system flagged attempts to use fake documents, leading to the interception of two individuals. One woman was stopped before boarding a Cebu Pacific flight to Nagoya, Japan, after presenting an unregistered CFO certificate. Another was apprehended before boarding an AirAsia flight to Kuala Lumpur, where her Overseas Employment Certificate (OEC) number, listed under a different name in the BI-DMW database, revealed tampering. The integration of BI databases with DMW and CFO has proven effective in disrupting the operations of illegal workers and human trafficking victims. Viado concluded by emphasizing the importance of interoperability in combating these threats, making it significantly harder for those engaging in illegal activities to go unnoticed
CHILD EXPLOITATION FOREIGN SEX OFFENDERS BUREAU OF IMMIGRATION PROJECT #SHIELDKIDS PHILIPPINES GOVERNMENT AGENCIES SEXUAL PREDATORS
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