By Ferdinand Patinio
MANILA – The Bureau of Immigration (BI) on Saturday reported the arrest of a South African national in Cebu, who is wanted in Kenya for sexual assault.
In a news release, the Bureau said a joint operation led by its Fugitive Search Unit in Mandaue City, arrested Michael James Noble Ballantine, also known as Michael James Ballantine, 42, in Mandaue City on March 18.
He was reportedly intercepted after lodging an application at the BI Cebu District Office.
The foreigner is the subject of an Interpol Red Notice for charges of sexual assault and compelled indecent acts under Kenya’s Sexual Offences Act of 2006.
According to reports received by the BI through the Philippine Center on Transnational Crime (PCTC), Ballantine assaulted victims inside his vehicle in August 2024.
A warrant of arrest was issued against him by a Kenyan court in September 2024 while the Red Notice was published the following month.
Records from the BI revealed that Ballantine arrived in the Philippines in December 2024 as a temporary visitor.
His visa expired in 2025, the same year he was placed on the blacklist and watchlist for being an undesirable alien and a fugitive.
He is currently under the custody of BI-Central Visayas while the deportation process is ongoing. (Ferdinand Patinio/PNA)
