Globe Asiatique owner Delfin Lee. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines – Vice President Jejomar Binay on Friday said that he would ask for the cancellation of Globe Asiatique owner Delfin Lee’s passport if reports that he had left the country to evade arrest were confirmed.
“If that’s traced abroad, a request will be made to the host country to send him back. It’s like having his passport cancelled,” Binay said in a statement.
The statement noted that Lee had a standing warrant of arrest against him for syndicated estafa in connection with GA’s Xevera housing project in Mabalacat, Pampanga.
Binay had also written a letter to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and the Bureau of Immigration (BI) asking them to confirm if Lee had indeed left the country.
“Please validate the reports quoting Secretary Jesse Robredo saying that Delfin Lee is already out of the country despite his standing warrant of arrest for syndicated estafa in Criminal Case No. 18480 issued on May 22, 2012 by Judge Amifaith Fider-Reyes, Presiding Judge of the Regional Trial Court of San Fernando Pampanga, Branch 42. If confirmed, I would highly appreciate an immediate investigation on how a fugitive from justice can easily escape from our jurisdiction,” Binay said in the letter.
Binay said that he was no longer questioning the apparent failure of the authorities to arrest Lee, but for him to be able to leave the country was another story.
He expressed fears that Lee’s escape, if proven true, would cause the public to lose trust in the government.
“These are times when the public loses trust with the government because it is as clear as day that this case is a hot issue,” he said.