Philippine Immigration

A British pedophile is now behind bars at the Bureau of Immigration (BI) for sexually molesting a 12-year-old girl in Pangasinan.

Arrested on the strength of a mission order issued by BI Commissioner Marcelino Libanan was David Ferguson Gatt, 68, who was picked up by operatives ob the BI law enforcement division at his home in Calasiao, Pangasinan last May 27.

Libanan said Gatt will remain detained at the Bicutan immigration jail indefinitely pending resolution of the criminal complaint that the father of the victim filed against the Briton for violating the anti-child abuse law.

He said the bureau is giving priority to the campaign against pedophiles, saying “we will always exercise our mandate to protect our women and children against foreign sex offenders.”

Libanan added that “although he (Gatt) is an undesirable alien who should be deported, he should first face the criminal charges filed against him,” said Libanan.

It was gathered that the Briton was already an undocumented and overstaying alien at the time of his arrest.

He failed to present his travel documents to the arresting agents but a check of the BI’s travel records showed that he last arrived in the country on August 15, 2001 and that he never bothered to extend his tourist visa since then.

“He will thus undergo deportation proceedings for being an undocumented, overstaying and undesirable alien,” said Atty. Floro Balato Jr., BI spokesman.

Balato added that Gatt will be placed in the BI blacklist to prevent him from re-entering the Philippines after he is deported.

Investigation revealed that Gatt was the subject of a complaint filed by a male resident of Calasiao, Pangasinan whose 12-year-old daughter the Briton allegedly molested several times.

The complainant said that while he was working in Manila, his wife entrusted the care of the victim to her grandmother, who is the live-in partner of the Briton.

According to the victim’s affidavit, she was sexually abused and molested by Gatt on many occasions and was made to do indecent acts against her will at the time that she stayed at her grandmother’s house. (BI News)