Bureau of Immigration (BI) Commissioner Joel Anthony Viado said that the agency is preparing a deportation case against an American pastor accused of physically abusing at least 160 children in Mexico town.
The case is in line with President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.’s directive to ensure the protection of the country’s most vulnerable sectors.
Viado said that the BI is initiating proceedings against the American national, identified as 48-year-old Jeremy K. Ferguson, as part of its #ShieldKids campaign, which aims to protect children from the exploitation and abuse of foreign nationals.
The BI’s Intelligence Division reported receiving official communication from the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) requesting assistance and informing the agency of Ferguson’s case.
Ferguson was reportedly arrested on August 13 by the DSWD Field Office III and the Pampanga Police Provincial Office’s Women and Children’s Protection Desk.
He was said to have headed a religious organization in Mexico, Pampanga, which had minors in its custody. Police and DSWD reports state that victims recounted being physically assaulted and sustaining injuries from Ferguson. There were also accounts of him depriving children of food, chaining them, or locking them inside rooms.
“This kind of depravity has no place in our country,” Viado said. “We will make sure this individual is expelled from the Philippines after facing his cases here so he may never prey on our children again. Foreign nationals who think they can come here and harm our people will face the full force of the law and the wrath of our justice system.”
