Chinese tourist faces charges following biting incident at NAIA

A Chinese tourist faces charges for making a scene at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 3 last Monday, where she allegedly assaulted an immigration officer and bit a guard.

In a statement, Bureau of Immigration spokesperson Maan Pedro said it is mulling filing direct assault charges against Jiang Huixiang, 38, for the incident.

On the other hand, the BI said one of its confidential employees who figured in the incident has been relieved and preventively suspended.

The BI cited a report from duty immigration supervisor Nelson Valdez showing Jiang arrived at NAIA-3 via a Cebu Pacific flight 5J-672 from Beijing.

"After establishing that (Jiang) is in violation of immigration laws by working without permit, the officer calmly and respectfully informed her that she cannot be allowed entry into the country. According to reports, (Jiang) immediately shouted in front of the Filipino immigration official," it said.

Rashid Rangiris, an on-duty confidential agent of the BI, approached her and asked her to calm down, but Jiang reportedly screamed and hurled invectives against him.

Jiang reportedly lay on the floor and stopped breathing, but when she was brought to the BI exclusion room, she started to kick Rangiris, who retaliated and brought her towards the nearby restroom where she eventually calmed down.

Meanwhile, an on-duty female security guard, Delisia Yap, said Jiang became hysterical and even threw her bag at her.

Yap said that when a colleague grasped Jiang's hands, the Chinese bit the right hand of the guard.

The BI said Jiang claimed to be working as a teacher on a tourist visa since 2012, but was considered improperly documented at the point of entry by Immigration Officers.

It committed to Chinese Consul General Qiu Jian that it will conduct a thorough investigation of the incident in view of possible administrative charges against involved.

Jiang boarded a flight to Beijing the next day.

Meanwhile, the BI issued a separate news release saying Rangris, a contractual employee of the BI, was preventively suspended while the investigation is ongoing.

"While the foreigner was clearly directly assaulting persons in authority and has committed immigration violations, the concerned BI employee may be facing administrative charges for not following standard operating procedure and code of conduct," it said. –Joel Locsin/KBK, GMA News