8 Chinese illegally working at Eastern Samar mine sites arrested

MANILA, Philippines—Eight Chinese nationals working without the required permit in two mining sites in Eastern Samar have been arrested, the Bureau of Immigration (BI) announced on Tuesday.

Immigration Commissioner Ricardo David Jr. said the Chinese were separately arrested by BI intelligence operatives inside the compounds of the Yinshu Mining Corp. and Din Shing Mining Inc. in Barangay Caradapan, Eastern Samar last February 6.

Those arrested were identified as Xue Guanghu, Enqing Xie, Lou Zheng Nan, Hong Bing Yin, Dong Chunhui Li Shaohua, Zuang Guangyu, and Mo Jiacheng.

The arrests were made following a mission order issued by David after they received a tip that scores of Chinese nationals were allegedly employed at the mining firms without the required working visas from the immigration bureau.

Philippine labor laws require foreigners working in the country to secure an alien employment permit (AEP) from the Department of Labor and Employment and working visa from the BI.

Lawyer Ma. Antonette Mangrobang, BI acting intelligence chief, said the operation was conducted after weeks of intensive surveillance on the activities of workers at the two mining firms.