Filipino family wins appeal to stay in UK

With the help of friends, neighbors and the Internet, a 36-year-old Filipino won his fight to stay in the United Kingdom, amid the government's bid to get him to leave because his papers were out of date. The British Broadcasting Co. reported Wednesday that Aldrin Quibuyen was eventually allowed to remain in Ammanford, where he has lived with his wife and two children for four years. "They can't believe it really - we are all very pleased. It's taken seven months but we've won which is the main thing... We had a lot of support in Ammanford, Wales and from outside. Adam Price took it up and supported me and I'm very thankful to him," he said. Quibuyen, who was told to leave because his papers were out of date, said he was "very pleased" that the British Home Office eventually granted his appeal to stay. He was recruited from the Philippines to work in Wales and most recently was employed at a nursing home in Llanelli. He and his family have been living in Ammanford, Carmarthenshire, South Wales. Wife Rhoda and six-year-old son Buzz followed a year later. His daughter Phebe, two, was born in Wales. Member of Parliament Adam Price raised his case before Parliament. Quibuyen said the original decision to deport him and his family stemmed from a misunderstanding that caused him to fill in a form late. He mounted a campaign to contest the order, setting up his own online petition (www.fightforjustice.co.uk), winning the support of hundreds of Ammanford residents, members of his local Salvation Army church and other Filipinos in Wales. "Imagine if you can, being told to leave the country you call home, all your friends, your job, everything you own, and just because you were late filling in a form, the equivalent maybe of being late paying your Council tax, or filing your tax return. an easy offence to commit, but why should you have to up and go?" Quibuyen's supporters said in his website. The trouble began when Quibuyen's paperwork, "partly the responsibility of his employer, but jointly Al's," had lapsed. The three months allowed to re-register for permission to remain in this country had coincided with the birth of his Daughter, Phebe. "Al now had to move quickly to avoid any action by Immigration. Straight away, he confessed his mistake and was told to re-apply. He applied using a form made available to him, and others, from immigrations' own website. The reply was a swift one, 'the form you have submitted was out of date' - a bit steep since they actually gave him the form!" Quibuyen's supporters said in the website. "Our argument is thus: Why punish an individual in this manner, whose only crime was to let some paperwork lapse?" they added. They said Quibuyen and others in similar positions are being made political scapegoats at their own expense, rather than having to go chasing the real illegal immigrants. - GMANews.TV