69 sex offenders barred from PH in first half of 2024 — BI

A total of 69 foreign sex offenders have been banned from entering the Philippines from January to June this year, the Bureau of Immigration said on Friday.

In a statement, the BI said that this is lower than the 84 foreigners barred in the same period last year.

Of the 69 foreigners, the bureau said that 58 are registered sex offenders or “persons with record of convictions for sex crimes in their respective countries.”

The rest, meanwhile, are either subjects of pending complaints or are under investigation or prosecution for various sex offenses, the BI added.

Further, the bureau said that Americans topped the list of barred foreigners for sexual crimes.

“Statistics showed that 48 Americans topped the list of the excluded sex offenders, followed by four Britons and two Australians. Also in the list is a German national, an Indonesian, an overseas British national, and one from Papua New Guinea,” the BI said.

The BI launched in January a campaign that protects children from sexual predators.

The Council for the Welfare of Children has also urged parents to avoid posting pictures of their children on social media as sexual online predators may use these for obscene online content using artificial intelligence. — Vince Angelo Ferreras/RSJ, GMA Integrated News