Visitors to Negros Oriental have often been heard to comment about the many foreign nationals who have chosen to make this Province their adopted home.
Many foreigners have come with noble intentions, and have found their niche in society as restaurateurs, educators, or volunteers for worthwhile causes.
There are also those who came here as, in the words of a former Dumaguete City Councilor, ‘economic refugees’, as they simply couldn’t live on their income back home.
Another kind of migrants are those who come over believing they could escape from crimes they committed, or were accused of having committed, back home.
Last week, two foreign nationals were arrested by immigration agents in Dauin and Sibulan towns for evading the courts of law back in their own countries.
Arrested were a Korean businessman who is facing charges of robbery and embezzlement in South Korea, and a German national who is facing a case of fraud in Germany.
According to the official from the Bureau of Immigration’s Fugitive Section who came over to serve the warrants, the two foreigners were simply using Negros Oriental as a hiding place.
Whether or not they are guilty of the offenses charged is their own business. But their act of coming over to Negros Oriental believing that they are beyond the reach of the law should merit them a persona non grata declaration from our legislative bodies.
