American sex offender barred from entering PH

The Bureau of Immigration bars Terry Lynn Spies, an American national convicted of a sex crime, from entering the Philippines on Friday, November 3, 2023. Photo from the BI

MANILA, Philippines — Immigration authorities have blocked an American sex offender from entering the Philippines.

The Bureau of Immigration (BI) said Thursday that its Border Control and Enforcement Unit (BCIU) barred Terry Lynn Spies from entering as he is a registered sex offender previously convicted for engaging in online solicitation of a minor. He was stopped at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport on November 3.

Spies was also the subject of an alert order issued by BI Commissioner Norman Tansignco.

Citing Interpol’s National Central Bureau in Manila, the BI said that a court in Texas convicted Spies in November 2012.

“He allegedly enticed a 14-year-old girl to meet him for ‘indecent purposes via telecommunications’ in violation of Texas’ penal code,” the agency said in a statement.

BCIU Deputy Chief for Operations Joseph Cueto said Spies was sent back to the United States on November 4.

This year alone, the BI said at least 140 foreigners were denied entry into the country due to their records of convictions on sex crimes.

Under the Philippine Immigration Act, foreigners convicted of crimes involving moral turpitude must not be allowed to enter the country.

“As gatekeepers of the country we are duty-bound as immigration officers to prevent the entry of aliens whose presence here poses a serious risk to our women and children,” Tansingco said in the same statement.

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