Deadline set for showbiz aliens

They have 10 days to report to the Bureau of Immigration (BI) or face arrest.

Immigration Commissioner Andrea Domingo told entertainers Belinda Panelo, Anne Curtis, Greg Martin, Jeff Rodriguez and Leila Kusma that they have until Nov. 27 to appear at the BI or they will be arrested and deported for working in the Philippines illegally.

Domingo said the five were already issued summons by the bureau over a week ago, but have not reported to the BI committee on illegally performing artists chaired by executive director Roy Almoro yet.

"If they do not show up at the appointed time, I will have no choice but to order their arrest," Domingo said.

The BI summons directed Panelo, Curtis, Martin, Rodriguez and Kusma to appear before Almoro’s committee and explain why they should not be fined, arrested and deported for violating Philippine immigration laws.

Citing initial investigations into the five artists’ cases, Domingo said they have been appearing as film actors and commercial models in movies and television shows, although they do not have the required working visa from either the BI or the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE).

Almoro cited the case of Panelo, an American-born actress and model, who has been appearing in locally produced movies and television commercials for the past three years without a valid work permit.

Panelo, Almoro said, applied for a working visa with the BI only on Oct. 28, but the application has not yet been approved by the board of commissioners.

At least six foreign celebrities were already fined P100,000 by the bureau since it launched its campaign against illegal alien artists.