MANILA, Philippines – An overstaying American tourist was arrested for allegedly assaulting a man who confronted him over a case of alleged sexual harassment at a five-star hotel in Parañaque City, the Bureau of Immigration (BI) said Friday.
Even Ronald Berlin, 31, was apprehended by BI’s Fugitive Search Unit (FSU) on March 14 at this residence in Makati City.
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Immigration Commissioner Joel Anthony Viado said in a statement that he issued a “mission order authorizing the FSU operatives to arrest Berlin after a deportation complaint was filed against him for being an undesirable alien.”
Berlin was accused of attacking a man inside a bar on March 9, leaving him unconscious after the victim allegedly confronted him for sexually assaulting his wife.
“He will undergo deportation proceedings for overstaying and undesirability. Foreigners who violate our immigration laws and harm people do not deserve the privilege to stay in our country,” Viado explained.
Further investigation revealed that Berlin had arrived in the Philippines on March 5, 2023, as a temporary visitor. However, he failed to extend his stay beyond July 2023, making him an overstaying foreign national at the time of his arrest.
Authorities also disclosed that Berlin was wanted for a separate case, with the Makati City Metropolitan Trial Court having issued a warrant for his arrest in September 2024 on charges of physical injury and violation of the Safe Spaces Act.
Meanwhile, the BI also reported the arrest of Odaira Kai, a 35-year-old Japanese national suspected of being a member of the notorious ‘Luffy” fraud syndicate.
He has been in custody since March 15 in Pampanga following a request from Japanese authorities, who accused him and his accomplices of stealing ATM cards and withdrawing over ¥4 million from a victim.
Both Berlin and Kai are currently detained at the BI Custodial Facility in Camp Bagong Diwa, Taguig City, as deportation proceedings against them move forward. (Sheba Barr, INQUIRER.net trainee)
