Lacson ‘shocked’ by escape of Reyes brothers

Senator Panfilo Lacson INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

Senator Panfilo Lacson, who quietly slipped back into the country after a disappearing act overseas following the filing of murder charges against him, is seeking a crackdown on immigration employees involved in the illegal entry and exit of people facing criminal charges.

Lacson’s call followed disclosures that former Palawan Governor Joel Reyes and his brother Mario left for Vietnam on March 18 through the Manila airport with the help of two Bureau of Immigration (BI) personnel—Rodelio Udarde and Wesley Gutierrez—to evade murder charges in connection with the slaying of environmentalist Gerardo Ortega in January 2011.

Presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said Udarde and Gutierrez should be sacked.

“We’re on the right path (tuwid na daan). We will not countenance any effort to undermine the policies, the programs and the advocacies of our President,” he told reporters.

Senator Gregorio Honasan on Thursday said he would call for a Senate inquiry into the flight of the Reyes brothers if this was warranted. The chair of the Senate committee on public order said fugitives usually take the backdoor routes via Mindanao to flee the country to avoid immigration procedures.

“From where I sit as a senator, I don’t see a weakness in the law. What I see is a weakness in the implementation of the law,” said Honasan, a former Army colonel who evaded arrest warrants for mounting coups against former President Corazon Aquino.

For starters, Lacson said, why not require all those authorized to stamp passports of entry and exit dates to always surrender their paraphernalia before leaving their post.

Lacson said an employee who could bring home the BI stamp could use this for unauthorized purposes.

“You can just imagine a BI official who has the authority to stamp passports can make it appear that a security guard signed the (departure) stamp. Anyway, those in the port of entry have no way of checking whether the signature is authentic,” he explained.

“What is checked is the stamp of the BI. The lesson learned here is to impose safeguards to make those issued stamps accountable.  They must surrender the stamp once they are off-duty. They must not use the stamp away from their post.”

The senator said the use of the stamp was limited to the booth or counter where the employee who issued it was posted.

“If we follow the revelation of [how the Reyes brothers escaped], their passports may have been stamped under the proverbial mango tree or under the guava tree and signed by some security guard they picked up somewhere,”  he said. “So there, the stamp made it legal for them to step beyond the immigration area.”

Deeper inquiry needed

He said the relief of Udarde and Gutierrez pending an investigation must not stop there. “Their relief should only be preparatory to a deeper investigation. And the probe should proceed beyond the culpability of the BI officials concerned.”

Lacson also suggested that the BI check whether there had been passengers reflected in a plane manifest but not in its records. “That could already indicate a conspiracy at least on the level of the BI official and the person allowed to leave.”

Lacson flew to Hong Kong on Jan. 5, 2010, two days before he was charged with murder in connection with the killing of publicist Salvador Dacer and his driver Emmanuel Corbito on Nov. 24, 2000. His passport was canceled and he was placed on the wanted list of the Interpol.

On Feb. 3, 2011, the appellate court threw out the charges against Lacson for lack of probable cause. On March 26, 2011, Lacson flew back from Hong Kong and later described himself as a “fugitive from injustice.”

Vietnam’s help sought

Immigration Commissioner Ricardo David Jr. on Thursday said he had asked Udarde and Gutierrez to explain in 72 hours why they should not be fired.

David also said he had asked all personnel on duty at Terminal 3 of Ninoy Aquino International Airport to explain their whereabouts and observations on the day the brothers escaped despite a P2-million reward for the capture of each of them.

The Whistleblowers Association led by Sandra Cam and former Solicitor General Francisco Chavez said on Wednesday that the Reyes brothers, accompanied by their lawyer Hermie Aban, escaped to Ho Chi Minh City on board Cebu Pacific Flight 751.

Based on a supposed Cebu Pacific manifest Cam showed to the media, the Reyeses and Aban, were seated near each other on the plane. Cebu Pacific officials declined to answer queries on whether the manifest came from them.

Unfair calls to resign

BI spokesperson Maria Antonette Mangrobang said the bureau was waiting for the reply of its Vietnamese counterpart on a request for closed-circuit television footage and biometrics records of the Reyes brothers and Aban upon their arrival at Tan Son Nhat International Airport.

She said the letter was sent to Vietnam’s ambassador in Manila over a week ago but there had been no reply. She said that from this information the bureau could determine if the fugitives took a connecting flight out of Vietnam and their next destination.

David branded as unfair calls for his resignation because of the incident, saying he had been waging a serious and uncompromising campaign to eradicate corruption in the BI.

He noted that in just 17 months that he had been in office 36 employees had been dismissed and 41 others were suspended for various offenses ranging from extortion, grave misconduct, human trafficking, and conduct prejudicial to the interest of the service.  With reports from TJ Burgonio, Norman Bordadora and Jerome Aning