The Dutch activist whose photograph went viral during President Aquino’s State of the Nation Address (SONA) will be deported back to the Netherlands, the Bureau of Immigration said Tuesday.
In a statement, BI officer in charge Siegfred Mison said the bureau’s airport unit stopped Thomas van Beersum from boarding a China Southern Airines flight to Xiamen past 8:00 a.m.
Van Beersum was arrested through a summary deportation order issued against him by the BI’s board of commissioners on Aug. 1. The deportation order stated that the Dutch activist stayed beyond the mandatory 21-day visa, and he violated the conditions of his stay as a tourist.
Records of the bureau showed that the activist failed to seek an extension of his tourist visa, which he obtained when he entered the country on June 3.
Mison also pointed out that Van Beersum’s participation during the protests staged by militant groups for the SONA ran against the condition of the tourist visa issued to him.
The bureau is processing the requirements to formally deport Van Beersum, which includes securing various clearances from the courts, the police and the National Bureau of Investigation, according to Mison.
He explained that the procedure was necessary to verify that the foreigner being expelled wasn’t facing a criminal case.
“We will book him on the first available outbound flight once we have secured the clearance from the NBI,” Mison said, adding that there was no need to detain the activist at the bureau’s jail in Bicutan.
Calls to deport Van Beersum resonated on social media sites after his photograph, shot by a local lensman, was widely shared. The picture shows him scolding a riot policeman, who burst into tears.
The police officer, identified as Police Officer 1 Joselito Sevilla, broke down, saying he felt exhausted after being deployed for days.-MM
Photo: Facebook page of Thomas Van Beersum
