Luli clarifies NAIA incident

HONG KONG – Presidential daughter Evangeline Lourdes "Luli" Arroyo clarified here yesterday that the violation in immigration procedures – not the shabby treatment of her – was the root of the confrontation she had with an immigration officer at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) on Tuesday, which prompted officials to relieve the officer while an investigation is being conducted.

"It’s not who I am, but the procedure should have been followed," she said in an interview with government television station NBN Channel 4. Apparently, Padlan did not recognize the presidential daughter, who falls in line instead of asking for VIP treatment at the airport every time she leaves for a trip.

She clarified that immigration examiner Edgardo Padlan was not relieved from his post because he scolded her at the immigration area and shouted at her to fall in line. The real offense was that Padlan allowed a foreigner to cut into the line and even allowed him to enter his immigration booth, which are clearly against immigration rules.

In a letter to The STAR, Arroyo said the immigration officer did get mad at her, supposedly for coming through immigration so close to her flight departure, but she protested and said that she did not deserve to be scolded because she stood patiently in line along with her sister-in-law and three-year-old niece while a foreigner was allowed to get ahead of other people in the line.

Arroyo said at first she only asked Padlan why he allowed the foreign tourist — a Korean — to cut the line and pointed out to the immigration officer that it was wrong for anybody to enter the booth. She noted that it might give the impression that some people can get special treatment in exchange for a bribe.

She said she also wondered why the Korean was permitted to get ahead of everyone else when he was in shorts and shirt, contrary to the claim of the immigration officer that the man was a supervisor or a VIP and was already delayed for his flight.

Arroyo said Padlan just dismissed her arguments even as she explained to him that he should not have allowed the foreigner to cut the line because other passengers were inconvenienced, including her sister-in-law, Kakai, who is pregnant.

But Padlan reportedly just asked her to go back to the line. He also started to raise his voice but another immigration agent prodded him to just process Arroyo’s passport.

It was only when he opened her passport that he realized he had argued with the daughter of President Arroyo.

Ferdinand Sampol, head supervisor at the Bureau of Immigration at NAIA, said that Arroyo raised the complaint to immigration supervisor-on-duty Asuncion Palma-Gil.

Padlan apologized but the next thing he knew, he was relieved from his post at NAIA and recalled to the Bureau of Immigration head office in Intramuros while an investigation is ongoing.

The officer’s family is asking that he be forgiven and allowed to go back to work.

"I am not angry but it’s not up to me. There is already an investigation," Arroyo said, when asked about her reaction to the family’s call.

Arroyo and her sister-in-law followed the rest of their family members here for a brief holiday.

Charges filed

Administrative charges were filed against Padlan while Immigration Commissioner Alipio Fernandez Jr. ordered further investigation into the incident.

Fernandez said they would determine whether Padlan should be sanctioned for supposedly violating separate directives on immigration officers at NAIA against displaying discourteous behavior and giving preferential treatment to passengers.

In a memorandum issued yesterday, Fernandez likewise ordered Padlan to explain within 72 hours why he should not be penalized for the incident.

Fernandez stressed that he could be suspended for six months to one year if found guilty of the charges.

Padlan, however, has no history of complaints from passengers throughout his decades of service to the Bureau of Immigration at NAIA, according to Sampol.

The immigration chief reiterated his order to all immigration officers to be courteous to everyone, whether they are VIPs or ordinary travelers. He reminded them that there is an existing memorandum prohibiting immigration officers at NAIA to facilitate special processing of passengers unless there are government dignitaries, members of the diplomatic corps, senators and congressmen, Cabinet members, members of the judiciary and handicapped passengers.

Request for VIP treatment is usually coursed through the NAIA Public Affairs Office or the Airport Immigration Office.

Models of good behavior

Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita called on other Filipinos to follow Arroyo’s lead in taking action on abusive and discourteous government officials and personnel.

"Even if one is not a daughter of the President, one can make observations on actions of public servants," Ermita said, adding that Arroyo would have likely done the same thing even if she were an ordinary citizen.

He denied comments that the action against Padlan was taken only because the incident was reported by the daughter of the President.

He said there were many instances when complaints from the public were acted upon immediately.

Meanwhile, while the presidential daughter would not ask for VIP treatment, four Philippine officials tried to cut the line of mostly Filipino passengers flying here from Nanning, China on Wednesday morning.

Media people from the Philippines covering the presidential visit proceeded here as Mrs. Arroyo agreed to a pool interview at 3 p.m. Wednesday.

Reporters who had lined up early complained to the airline staff that the flight would be delayed if they would keep on allowing people who just came in to cut the line and check in first.

Two of the officials were identified as Fe Agoncillo Reyes and Celeste Ilagan of the Department of Trade and Industry. The names of the two male companions were not immediately known.

One of the male officials remarked: "Kahit anong gawin niyo, gagawin pa rin nila ang gusto nila (Whatever you do you, they will still do what they want)." He was referring to the Chinese support staff that were giving the Filipino officials VIP treatment.

In the end, the flight was delayed and reporters missed half the time allotted for them to interview the President.

Mrs. Arroyo turned out to have already granted a round-table interview with media based here earlier in the day and some of her interviews already came out in the wire services.

Trade Secretary Peter Favila vowed to look into the incident. He said while he understood Chinese courtesy for government officials, he would not have allowed the process to be disregarded and inconvenience other passengers.

He said if the male official was from the DTI, "I promise you, he’s out."

"I will not tolerate such kind of an attitude," Favila said, adding that a government official should be a model of good behavior. — With Edu Punay, Paolo Romero, Rainier Allan Ronda