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“PLEASE obey our rules, fall in line.”
Those were the polite words
immigration officer Leni Maminta told to a Chinese national, who,
instead of following airport rules slapped the lady immigration
officer on the arm and hurled invectives at her.
Maminta, in his report to
Immigration Commissioner Marcelino Libanan, said the incident
happened on February 14 at the departure counter of the Ninoy Aquino
International Airport 2 centennial terminal after he asked the
Chinese national, identified as 42-year-old Jin Dong, to fall in
line.
The immigration official reported
that the Chinese national, without any reason or provocation,
suddenly walked towards her and slapped her upper right arm. She
said the Chinese hit her so hard that she sustained a black mark on
her arm as a result.
The foreigner also pointed his
fingers and together with his 15-year-old son, Zhiyu Dong, shouted
words in Chinese at the immigration officer.
Maminta said she politely told
the passenger to go back to his line but his son, who could speak
English, scolded her and said: “You are only a woman. Don’t
fight with my father. You are impolite.”
Based on Maminta’s report,
Libanan on Wednesday immediately placed the Chinese national and his
son on the immigration blacklist to prevent them from entering the
country again.
Libanan said foreigners like Dong
and his son do not deserve the privilege to stay in the country
because of their rude manners and bad conduct.
He noted that the two Chinese
insulted not only a woman but a Philippine immigration officer to
whom foreigners “must show respect and courtesy befitting of her
job as a gatekeeper of the country.”
Libanan stressed that although
the Philippines must always keep its doors open to tourists,
“foreigners should not abuse the country’s hospitality by
hurting the sensibilities and attacking the dignity of their
Filipino hosts.”
--William B. Depasupil
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