Immigration Commissioner Ricardo David Jr. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines—A convicted Australian pedophile who tried to enter the country from Singapore early this month was intercepted by immigration officers at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, the Bureau of Immigration said Friday.
Immigration Commissioner Ricardo David Jr. on Friday said he had already ordered the inclusion of Scot William Ilyes, 38, in the immigration blacklist after the latter was intercepted by BI officers.
Ilyes arrived in the country on a Cebu Pacific flight from Singapore on April 4.
David said Ilyes, who carried a New Zealand passport, is a convicted sex offender and was banned from coming to the Philippines to prevent him from preying on Filipino children.
Ma. Antonette Mangrobang, BI acting intelligence chief and spokesperson, said immigration officials stationed at the NAIA were tipped off about Ilyes’ scheduled trip to the Philippines by Australian police authorities.
Ilyes’ itinerary indicated that from Manila, he would be taking a connecting flight to Iloilo, where he was supposed to stay for two weeks before returning to Australia.
The BI chief commended the immigration officers at NAIA for their vigilance in preventing the entry of an undesirable alien into the country.
Citing a report from the Australian federal police, Mangrobang said Ilyes is a child sex offender who was convicted by a district court in Perth on February 25, 2010.
He was charged and found guilty of multiple counts of indecent assault against children and sentenced to one year imprisonment.
But his sentence was later conditionally suspended for 24 months during which he was under probation and supervision.
Mangrobang added that the Australian police had warned the bureau that Ilyes, because of his conviction for contact offense, posed a risk to Filipino children if he was allowed to enter the country.