By Ferdinand Patinio
MANILA – Bureau of Immigration (BI) fugitive search unit (FSU) operatives have arrested in Manila an American man tagged as a sex offender in his home country.
In a statement on Thursday, BI FSU chief Rendel Ryan Sy said James Russel Munson, 67, was apprehended Wednesday along Roxas Boulevard in Ermita district. No further details were given, however, with regard to circumstances surrounding the arrest.
According to information from the Philippine Center on Transnational Crime and US authorities, Munson was convicted for being a child sex offender.
Sy said Philippine immigration laws prohibit the entry of foreign nationals previously convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude, which involves registered sex offenders.
The arrest of the American suspect is part of the BI’s Project #Shieldkids, an intensified campaign of the bureau against sexual predators and other foreign nationals whose presence poses risk to public security and safety, especially to the welfare of the children.
Munson will remain in the BI’s custody and will face deportation proceedings and eventual blacklisting.
The BI said the arrest is in line with President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s directive to ensure the protection of vulnerable sectors of society from foreign predators. (PNA)
