4 Chinese feng shui ‘experts’ to be deported

4 Chinese feng shui ‘experts’ to be deported


Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 09:24:00 08/12/2009

Filed Under: Crime, Immigration

MANILA, Philippines—Four Chinese women claiming to be feng shui experts have been ordered deported for working as fortune tellers here without the required visas.

The board of commissioners of the Bureau of Immigration, chaired by Commissioner Marcelino Libanan, denied on Aug. 3 a motion by the Chinese nationals to set aside the deportation order issued Feb. 22 by the board, paving the way for their deportation.

Chen Ruiying, Huang Tumei, In Meili, and Wo Shaoyun were also placed on the immigration blacklist and banned from re-entering the Philippines.

In a press statement, immigration spokesperson Floro Balato Jr. said the Chinese women had been detained at the immigration jail since Feb. 11 this year when they were turned over to the bureau by the Manila police.

Balato added the women can now be deported to China as the criminal case that was filed against them in court had already been dismissed.

Policemen arrested the women on the complaint of another Chinese woman, identified as Uang Hiu Hiu, who alleged that she was swindled by the suspects of some P200,000 cash and assorted jewelry.

The victim said that on Feb. 1, while eating inside a fast-food restaurant in Manila’s Binondo district, she was approached and enticed by the suspects, who claimed they were fortune tellers and feng shui experts, to give them her money and jewelry after being told that she would soon get rich and avoid bad luck.

Less than two weeks after their arrest, the bureau approved the women’s request for voluntary deportation but their departure was delayed due to an estafa (fraud) case filed against them before the Manila Regional Trial Court.

The Manila court dismissed the case against the Chinese on June 22 for insufficiency of evidence.