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.