American man banned from entering Philippines for life after incorrectly filling out application form

2023.11.20 Mon posted at 15:15 JST

（ＣＮＮ） An American tourist has been banned from entering the Philippines for life after he threw his passport at an official during immigration procedures and entered inappropriate language on an application form.

According to the head of the Philippine Immigration Bureau, the person who was banned from entering the country is a 34-year-old man. He arrived at Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Manila, the capital of the Philippines, from Bangkok, the capital of Thailand, on the 7th.

Authorities said that upon arrival, the man was rude to staff and threw his passport and mobile phone at them when he was asked to fill out an online immigration form.

When authorities examined the form the man filled out, they found that he had fabricated his address in the Philippines, omitted his full name, and included inappropriate language.

Meanwhile, in an interview with CNN, the man identified himself as a real estate investor who occasionally stays in the Philippines, and denied that he had ever thrown anything at staff or raised his voice.

According to the man’s explanation, he was unable to properly fill out the form on his cell phone and asked an immigration official for help, but was refused. After three unsuccessful attempts to enter his information, he was frustrated because he was about to be late for his connection to Cebu, so he typed in false information, which was successfully sent this time.

He did not answer questions about whether he had entered inappropriate words. She immediately apologized to the staff and said she also apologized in writing, but it was ignored.

The man also claimed that he had not received any formal communication directly from Philippine authorities regarding his entry ban. When asked if he had any plans to visit the Philippines in the future, he simply answered that he would have no choice but to let go of the real estate he invested in the Philippines.

According to the Philippine Immigration Bureau, 44 foreigners have been placed on the entry ban list for disrespectful persons since January of this year.