Alien deported despite acquittal
AN alien’s acquittal on a criminal case does not mean he can no longer be deported for violation of Philippine immigration laws.
This can be gleaned from a Bureau of Immigration (BI) decision to deport a Swiss-Italian national for being an undesirable alien, despite his court acquittal.
In a five-page order issued by the BI board of commissioners last May 28, the bureau ordered the immediate deportation of Alfred Josef Honegger, 67, who was found as an undesirable alien for intervening in the management, operation, administration, and control of a restaurant in Cordova, Cebu.
The BI board concurred with the findings of the Bureau’s Board of Special Inquiry (BSI) that Honegger’s activities deprived Filipinos of jobs and business opportunities which should have been strictly reserved to them.
Earlier, Honegger sought the dismissal of his deportation case as some of the criminal complaints filed against him were dismissed by the Cebu provincial prosecutor’s office.
The BI however, stressed that the criminal conviction of an alien is not a prerequisite to his deportation because unlike a criminal proceeding, deportation is an administrative action where the evidence required is not the highest quantum of proof beyond reasonable doubt.
It said that the lowest standard of substantial evidence applies in an alien’s deportation as the proceeding is only administrative in character, summary in nature, and need not be conducted strictly in accordance with the rules of court.
“The acquittal of an accused in a criminal case does not bar the deportation of an alien, who has been established by competent evidence to have committed acts contrary to morals, good customs, public order, or public policy. Conviction of a crime is not necessary to warrant deportation,” the BI said.
The BI added that it found numerous evidence to establish the Honegger is an undesirable alien by intervening in a business strictly reserved to Filipinos.
Honegger’s presence in the country poses a risk to public interest and was thus included in the bureau’s blacklist which bars him from ever returning to the country.
