Immigration officers indicted for bribery

CEBU, Philippines - The Office of the Ombudsman has indicted an immigration officer and three confidential agents for direct bribery and graft and corruption for demanding half-million pesos from a Korean businessman in 2007.

The anti-graft office ordered the filing of the criminal charges before the court against immigration officer Dilausan Sarip Montor and confidential agents Daniel Gumba, Mabert Impas and Maria Donna Bella Deriada for violation of section 3(b) of the Republic Act 3019 otherwise known as the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act and direct bribery.

“It is clear from the circumstances of the case that respondents’ respective actuations were all geared towards conveying to private complainant their aggressive and intimidating demand for money and, ultimately, to ensuring that complainant would end up actually paying,” read the anti-graft resolution.

Montor and the three confidential agents were arrested by the National Bureau of Investigation on October 22, 2007 during an entrapment operation for allegedly demanding P500,000 from a Korean businessman Lee Dong Bum.

They were caught in the act of receiving P150,000 from Lee as partial payment of the P500,000 they originally demanded.

The money was intended to settle the problem of a fellow Korean national working for Lee. It was Deriaga who allegedly arranged the transaction between Montor and Lee.

Deriaga, Gumba and Impas all denied the charges, claiming that they were just invited by Montor. According to them, they did not have any knowledge about the transaction.

Montor, on the other hand, questioned the legality of his arrest, claiming that the NBI did not have a warrant against him.

The anti-graft office, however, ruled that “the mere fact that he went to meet complainant outside the BI office, for no apparent reason, and he received money from the complainant, is more than enough to generate the belief that he solicited, if not demanded money from private complainant in connection with his duties at the BI.” — Fred P. Languido/LPM (THE FREEMAN)