PASAY – Bureau of Immigration (BI) officers at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) stopped an American with an extensive record of sex crimes in his home country.
Thomas Henry Vander Waal, 39, was stopped at NAIA Terminal 1 upon his arrival aboard a China Eastern Airlines flight from Taipei, Taiwan.
Tansingco emphasized that immigration law explicitly prohibits the entry of aliens who have been convicted of crimes involving moral turpitude as they are considered undesirable aliens.
According to Interpol’s National Central Bureau in Manila, Vander Waal, originally from Rock Valley, Sioux County, Iowa, has convictions related to sex offenses against minors in the US. These convictions include criminal offenses such as child pornography, sexual abuse, and child molestation involving a minor under 15 years of age.
Tansingco has issued an order directing the inclusion of Vander Waal’s name in the BI’s blacklist of unwanted aliens, effectively banning him from re-entering the Philippines to ensure the safety of women and children in the country.
