Foreigners held for illegal entry

Foreigners held for illegal entry

MANILA (AP): The Philippine navy has detained 11 foreigners who illegally entered the Philippines aboard a boat laden with smuggled canned goods from Indonesia, officials said on Monday.

Military officials said 36 Filipinos were also aboard the motor boat Santos Sa, which was sighted by a navy patrol vessel on Sunday off Glan town in southern Sarangani province. The boat came from Manado, Indonesia.

Navy authorities turned over the Filipinos and foreigners to coast guard and immigration officials for questioning on Monday in the southern port city of General Santos, southern Philippine military command spokesman Horacio Lapinid said.

The Filipinos, mostly illegal workers in Indonesia, were released after questioning but authorities said they would charge the foreigners with illegal entry so they could be deported, Lapinid said.

The names of the foreigners, consisting of an American, two Britons, three Indonesians, a Swiss, two Germans and two Dutch nationals, were not immediately available. Lapinid said the 11 carried passports but did not have clearance to enter the country.