Chinese trader posing as a Filipino arrested at Naia

ANOTHER ALICE GUO? The National Bureau of Investigation has taken into custody a Chinese woman who supposedly used a Filipino passport and a birth certificate to pass herself off as a Filipino and set up businesses in the Philippines. Using information taken from an intelligence report, the NBI arrested Wang Xiujun on July 13 at Ninoy Aquino International Airport upon her arrival from Guangdong, China. —MARIANNE BERMUDEZ

A Chinese woman who was able to set up businesses by posing as a Filipino has been arrested at Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia), the National Bureau of Investigation said on Tuesday.

According to the NBI, the woman identified as Wang Xiujun was placed under arrest upon her arrival at Naia from Guangdong, China, on July 13.

The NBI said the operation against Wang was based on an intelligence report that she had been posing as a Filipino named Cassi Palma Poliquit in some of her business transactions.

An investigation conducted by the NBI also revealed that Wang was able to secure a Philippine passport under the made-up Filipino name, as confirmed by the Office of Consular Affairs of the Department of Foreign Affairs, and a birth certificate via the late registration process.

“Based on the documents secured from the Securities and Exchange Commission, she established several companies where she represented herself as a Filipino,” the NBI said.

“All these, despite the fact that she is a Chinese national with a Special Investor’s Resident Visa as per verification with the Bureau of Investment,” it added.

Fingerprints a match

An analysis also showed that the fingerprints of both Wang and Poliquit were identical.

Following her arrest, the NBI has charged Wang with violating the immigration law, specifically misrepresentation as a Filipino, violating the limitations and conditions of stay, and undesirability.

The NBI also charged her with violating Republic Act No. 8239, or the “Philippine Passport Act of 1996” before the Prosecutor’s Office of Taguig City.

NBI Director Jaime Santiago, for his part, said the agency was committed to digging deeper into similar cases.

Poliquit’s case closely resembles that of dismissed Tarlac, Bamban Mayor Alice Guo, who was revealed to be a Chinese national named Guo Hua Ping, based on a fingerprint analysis conducted by the NBI.

Last month, nearly a year after she was dismissed from office for her involvement in illegal Philippine offshore gaming operators or Pogos, Guo was also disqualified from holding a government post after a Manila court declared her as “undoubtedly a Chinese citizen.”