Two foreign sex offenders, one American and one British, are due to be deported after being arrested by the Bureau of Immigration.
The BI announced today (Friday, January 12) that Briton Robert Michael Eastwood, aged 67, and American Frank Carson Jr, 68, were picked up in two separate operations conducted by the bureau’s fugitive search unit (FSU).
Eastwood was arrested on Wednesday in Barangay Canuntog, Ormoc City, while Carson was caught the following day at the Alegria Palms Subdivision in Cordova, Cebu, on the orders of Immigration Commissioner Jaime Morente.
BI intelligence officer and FSU chief Bobby Raquepo said Eastwood was a registered sex offender wanted by the UK police for sexual assault and a string of other criminal cases.
Eastwood was charged with sexual assault against a 13-year-old girl, indecent assault, sexual assault against a 16-year-old girl, armed robbery and firearms offences.
Carson was the subject of an outstanding warrant of arrest issued by a California court due to his failure to register as a sex offender. His passport has been cancelled by the US government.
Immigration Commissioner Jaime Morente, who ordered the arrest operations, said: “As usual, the two of them will be deported as they pose a risk to public safety and security and they will be placed in our blacklist to ensure that they do not return to the Philippines in the future.”
Eastwood and Carson are currently detained at the BI detention facility in Bicutan, Taguig City.
On Wednesday, we reported on the BI’s success in keeping foreign sex offenders out of the country in the first place.
The bureau announced this week that 187 offenders were barred from entering the Philippines in 2017. This figure was a substantial increase on the 144 offenders intercepted in 2016.
The people stopped were all offenders who had finished serving their sentences or had been released on probation or parole. Of the total, 153 were Americans, followed by 19 Australians and 10 Britons.