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An American sex offender wanted by his home country for distributing child pornography has been arrested in the Philippines.

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Department of Justice (DOJ) spokesman Markk Perete identified the fugitive American as Gary James Dukolil.

Perete said Dukolil, who is also an undocumented alien, was arrested at 4pm yesterday (Friday, February 22) at Clark Residences in Pampanga.

The spokesman said the arrest was made by the Bureau of Immigration’s Fugitive Sections Unit at the request of the United States government

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“The arrest was made pursuant to an official request from the Diplomatic Security Service-Overseas Criminal Investigations, US Embassy in Manila,” Perete said in a statement today.

“The fugitive has an outstanding warrant of arrest issued by the Minnesota District Court on 17 Jan 2019 for distribution of child pornography,” he added.

Following Dukolil’s arrest, the American was taken to the BI’s main office in Manila for documentation.

Perete added that Dukolil, who will be deported to the US, will be detained in the meantime at the BI’s Bicutan detention centre in Taguig City.

New sex offender law

Meanwhile, the Philippine Senate has today filed a bill to bar foreign sex offenders from visiting the Philippines.

Senate Bill 2192, authored by Senator Aquilino Pimentel, pushes for the protection of children from “travelling sex offenders”.

In filing the measure, Pimentel cited the 2016 Global Study on Sexual Exploitation of Children in Travel and Tourism which found that the Philippines as one of the “most-favoured” destinations for sex offenders.

“The same report highlighted the fact that because our legal frameworks are weak, our law enforcement has allowed them to remain virtually immune from prosecution,” the senator added.

He also noted that the US and Australian governments had already strengthened their laws to limit the mobility of registered sex offenders.

Calling for the same laws to be passed for the Philippines, Pimentel said: “It is therefore imperative that we take a proactive stance in protecting the Filipino children.”

SB 2192 would prohibit the entry into the country of any foreign national who has a “pending administrative, civil or criminal case involving any sex-related offence or any specified offence of a sexual nature or complexion involving children”.

The DOJ would be tasked to create and maintain a sex offender registration and notification programme.

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