The rescued foreigners in the gaming park or all blacklisted are now under the custody of the Philippine Immigration Bureau.

On July 17, local time, Philippine Department of Justice (DOJ) Secretary Crispin Remura (Jesus Crispin "Boying" Remulla) stated that the Philippine Immigration Bureau will "legally detain" last month in the city of Las Binyingsi (Las Pinas) foreign citizens rescued during the gambling park raid.

Remura said that this decision was reached after a meeting between the Ministry of Justice and the Philippine National Police Anti-Cyber Crime Team (PNP-ACG).

The Minister of Justice stressed that these foreigners "are lawfully detained and they are under investigation for violating visa conditions".

He said: "We have reached an agreement with the police that the detention of these foreigners is technically and legally the responsibility of the Immigration Bureau.

He added: "As the Immigration Department currently does not have a facility that can accommodate 1,000 people, the rescued foreign citizens will continue to be detained in the gaming park, and the Immigration Department will legally supervise them until all procedures are completed. This will clarify a lot of questions about habeas corpus applications, because these applications are considered by the immigration authorities. They must remember that the rights of people entering this country are always limited by the conditions stipulated in the visa."

The official stressed that the violation of visa conditions was enough to keep them indefinitely detained by the Immigration Service.

"They are currently under investigation for breach of visa regulations. Because the assumption is, if they have a work visa, they should be here legally to engage in legitimate activities. However, if these activities are illegal, then it has violated visa regulations. The license of the gaming park has been canceled by the Philippine Entertainment and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR), which also means that the fact that they are engaged in illegal activities makes their residence already illegal."

In the middle of the night on June 26, the Philippine National Police raided the gambling park in Las Binying City and rescued more than 2700 so-called victims of human trafficking, including 1534 Filipinos and 1190 foreigners.

Although hundreds of foreigners have completed the identification information examination and been taken back by their respective embassies, about 1000 foreigners are still detained in the park.

The Minister of Justice said that the foreign citizens rescued in Lasbinyings involved about 17 countries and regions, and the authorities are coordinating with the embassies of various countries to deport or repatriate their citizens.

When asked how many foreigners will be deported or returned, Remula said: "It depends on the situation, but we hope that the condition of repatriation is that they will be blacklisted, because if they are engaged in illegal activities in the Philippines, then we should not let them return to the Philippines."

Remura said that because the rescued foreign employees did not have passports, it was difficult to confirm their identities. He said they were working with embassies to help with identification.

He said, "We have to abide by the deportation laws. We have to check their records and if there is an outstanding case against them, they have to face a Philippine court before they can be deported."

Earlier, the Philippine National Police stated that the authorities had found at least 8 fugitives from the raided park, of which 5 were Chinese and the other 3 were Taiwanese. In addition, the authorities also found at least two minors from the rescued foreign citizens.