He was banned by the Philippine bureau of immigration for writing “profane words” on a digital immigration form and being rude to immigration officers.
Anthony Laurence, 34, was refused entry and put on a blacklist permanently following his allegedly “disrespectful” behavior, the Philippine Bureau of Immigration Commissioner Norman Tansingco said in a statement last week.
Laurence, 34, arrived at Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Manila from Bangkok on November 7.
According to Philippine authorities, upon his arrival, he allegedly “showed disdain” toward one immigration officer when he was reminded to fill out an online travel form and tossed his passport and mobile phone at another.
According to CNN, Laurence, a property investor who lives in the Philippines intermittently, disagrees with the immigration authority's version of events.
Immigration Commissioner Tansingco said in his statement that, “After verifying [Laurence’s information] in our system, the officer discovered that the passenger had keyed in a made-up address in the Philippines, did not include his full name, and inputted profane words in his entry.”
He added that immigration officers had been advised to exercise maximum tolerance, but the foreign national had “overstepped his boundaries.”
“Such behavior is not only disrespectful but also undermines the efficiency of the system,” the commissioner said.
“Our agency is committed to ensuring a seamless experience to the traveling public. We expect all individuals to conduct themselves with respect and adhere to the established procedures. Any violation of these procedures will be dealt with firmly,” he added.
But Laurence disputes that account, telling that he had neither thrown anything nor raised his voice during the incident, according to CNN.
He said he had sought help from the immigration officers but was turned away when he could not get the travel form on his phone to work correctly.
He said he had made three failed attempts to fill out the form, then became frustrated and entered incorrect information in a bid to “quickly get through immigration” for his connecting flight to Cebu – and that on this attempt, the application went through.
“I immediately apologized and the immigration officer wasn’t interested,” Laurence said.
“I even hand-wrote an apology to the immigration officer which he wasn’t interested in as well,” Laurence added.
Laurence expressed his disagreement with the Philippine authorities, stating that they had overreacted. He accused them of denying him due process and mentioned that he did not receive any official document notifying him of the lifetime ban.
“In fact, I learned much of the government’s position from the articles they published about me and not from them directly,” he said, referring to media reports about the encounter.
He did not reveal if he intended to go back to the Philippines. Instead, he mentioned that he would need to sell off his property investments in the country.
In 2023, the immigration bureau reported that it had excluded and blacklisted 44 foreign nationals whom it considered 'disrespectful,' CNN reported.
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November 19, 2023 at 09:14PM
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