Romanian national held by PCG in Zamboanga

ZAMBOANGA CITY – Anti-terror authorities have taken custody of an undocumented Romanian national whom the Philippine Coast Guard intercepted during a routine inspection of a passenger sea vessel here on Monday.

Lt. Junior Grade Jomark Angue, PCG Zamboanga district commander, said 44-year-old Cornel Ionesco was put under temporary custody when the foreigner failed to show any travel document.

Angue said PCG personnel were also alarmed when Ionesco gave conflicting statements as to his nationality and the purpose of his travel to the southern Philippines, particularly Jolo, when accosted aboard MV Ever Queen of Asia during routine inspection on Monday.

“When he was about to leave for Jolo last Monday, we asked him who he was and for where he was bound. He told us he was a German tourist wanting to see Jolo and Bongao,” Angue said.

Angue said he allowed Ionesco to go to Sulu but only after the foreigner agreed to his offer to provide him two security escorts “to ensure his safety.”

Angue said when the Romanian left for Jolo with the two PCG escorts, he immediately made contacts with the Bureau of Immigration to further check on Ionesco’s background.

“We coordinated with Immigration personnel and asked them to check their database about Ionesco’s identity. We later learned that he was not a German but a Romanian,” he said.

Angue said what was more alarming than Ionesco’s misrepresentation of his nationality was the discovery that the foreigner made past trips to Pakistan.

Pakistan is notorious for hosting some of the world’s powerful terrorists such as Osama Bin Laden and others from the al-Qaeda.

The BID also had no record of his entry to the Philippines, Angue said.

“Even his point of entry could not be ascertained, it’s highly questionable. There were no records of how he entered the Philippines,” he said.

Angue said as mysterious as his point of entry, Ionesco might have planned to leave the country via Jolo, among the so–called backdoors, for reasons only the foreigner knew.

He said when Ionesco arrived in Sulu on Tuesday, police and Immigration officials met and interrogated him.

Angue said the Romanian gave police and Immigration representatives alibis, which were so different from what he had earlier told the PCG.

“This time, he claimed that he was sent by the US government on a special mission but he had no valid papers or documents so Immigration representatives decided to forcibly send him back to Zamboanga,” he said.

The escorted Ionesco arrived here back from Jolo on Wednesday afternoon aboard MV Mama Mia.

Angue said the PCG then turned Ionesco over to the BID office here, which is facilitating his travel to Manila.

He said the Romanian was also charged under the transnational crimes law as he had now become a suspected terrorist.

Angue said Ionesco is currently under custody by the Philippine Commission on Transnational Crimes (PCTC) and will soon be flown to Manila to face the charges brought up against him.