Aguirre: ‘Not my fault immigration let Sombero leave PH’

Lian Buan

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Aguirre: ‘Not my fault immigration let Sombero leave PH’
Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II says he did not issue an Allow Departure Order to the middleman of Chinese gambling tycoon Jack Lam

MANILA, Philippines – Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II insisted on Tuesday, February 14, that he did not allow retired police general Wally Sombero to leave the country as the latter was supposed to testify at the Senate probe into the alleged bribery scandal inside the Bureau of Immigrations last week.

Aguirre asserted this in an interview with reporters on the same morning that Sombero, the middleman of Chinese gambling tycoon Jack Lam, returned to Manila from Canada.

Obligasyon ng immigration officer na ipatupad ang ILBO (Immigration Lookout Bulletin Order). Dapat pinigilan. Kung hindi siya pinigilan, hindi na kasalanan ng justice secretary ‘yun,” Aguirre said.

(It is the obligation of the immigration officer to implement the ILBO. He should have kept him from leaving. If he [Sombero] wasn’t barred from leaving, that is no longer the fault of the justice secretary.)

During the Senate blue ribbon committee hearing into the Bureau of Immigration corruption scandal on February 9, Sombero’s lawyer, Ted Contacto, said his client had secured permission from Aguirre to leave for Las Vegas on January 17.

Contacto had told the Senate panel that Sombero formally made the request in a letter to Aguirre on January 16. (READ: Aguirre allowed Jack Lam’s middleman to leave PH)

Aguirre told reporters that Sombero’s letter alone should not be taken at face value, adding that if he had approved the request, he would have issued an Allow Departure Order (ADO). He explained this in the context of a similar request made by Senator Leila de Lima, who is also the subject of an ILBO.

Sumulat siya, pero ang kaibahan niyan, ‘yung ILBO – ‘di ba may ILBO siya – ang kaibahan noon kaysa doon kay De Lima, si De Lima sumulat din e, but I expressedly gave her, permitted her to leave by giving ADO. Kay Sombero, wala akong inissue na ADO kasi hindi ko pinapayagan e,” Aguirre said.

(He sent me a letter, but the difference is there is an ILBO – isn’t it that there’s an ILBO against him – the difference here is that when De Lima wrote to me also, I expressedly gave her, permitted her to leave by giving an ADO. I did not give Sombero an ADO because I did not allow him.)

At the last Senate hearing into the BI scandal, immigration officials said Sombero managed to leave the country without any questions asked as his name did not prompt an alert in the system when his passport was scanned.

BI Commissioner Jaime Morente had explained then that this was because Sombero was named “Wally” in the ILBO while he used his formal name, “Wenceslao,” on his passport.

Sombero returned to the country Tuesday morning via a Philippine Airlines flight from Vancouver, Canada. National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) operatives escorted him from the airport to his Quezon City home. He told the media at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 2 that he has no knowledge whether Aguirre was involved in the BI scandal.

Pinipilit nilang may kinalaman (ako). Here comes Sombero, sabi niya wala daw [akong kinalaman] (They are insisting that I’m involved. Here comes Sombero, he said I’m not),” Aguirre said.

Sombero allegedly offered P50 million to then immigration associate commissioners Al Argosino and Michael Robles – fraternity brothers of Aguirre and President Rodrigo Duterte – in exchange for the release of some illegal Chinese workers in Jack Lam’s casino in Pampanga. 

Aguirre had alleged that Lam had tried to bribe him also, through Sombero, to protect casino operators in the Philippines. De Lima, in pushing for the Senate probe into the BI scandal, had asked why didn’t effect an immediate warrantless arrest of Sombero if he really tried to bribe the Cabinet official.

Sombero had accused Argosino and Robles of extortion.  The two had been sacked following the incident.

Sombero is scheduled to attend the next Senate hearing on Thursday, February 16. – Rappler.com

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Lian Buan

Lian Buan is a senior investigative reporter, and minder of Rappler's justice, human rights and crime cluster.