Reports of misconduct involving Israeli tourists went viral last month, when two Israelis were reported to have assaulted the owners of Cartoon Resto Cafe in Siargao, allegedly because it had a Palestinian flag on display.
Over the past few weeks, prominent Filipino influencers have been calling for a crackdown on visitors from Israel to stop harassment and abuse of local businesses and rules.
In a series of arrests conducted by the Bureau of Immigration last week, Israelis were the largest group of foreigners accused of violations related to their stay and activities on the island. Besides them, immigration officials also arrested a Moroccan national, an Australian, a Lithuanian, a Nigerian, and two Chinese.
“While the reports on unruly incidents did not directly cause the arrest, it caused the office to take a closer look at these individuals and their status in the country,” BI spokesperson Dana Krizia Sandoval told Arab News.
“They were found to have violated immigration laws, hence will face sanctions for their violations.”
One of the Israelis was tagged by the BI as “an undesirable alien following a previous arrest by local authorities.”
Elie Rasa, Siargao resident and community advocate, welcomed the arrests but said she hoped the government’s action would go beyond a single operation.
“I’m glad that finally our authorities are now doing something about it, taking the necessary actions against these foreign nationals who blatantly violate our laws,” she told Arab News.
“There are lots of them here who own businesses and lots of land, which we know they cannot … Hopefully, this is now the beginning of our authorities acting on complaints from the people of Siargao.”