BI defends deportation to China of 14 Taiwanese nationals

MANILA, Philippines -  The government defended before the Court of Appeals (CA) the deportation to China earlier this month of 14 Taiwanese nationals wanted for large-scale fraud.

In a 10-page manifestation filed yesterday, the Bureau of Immigration (BI) said no law or procedure was violated in the summary deportation of the fugitives who were found to be undocumented and considered undesirable due to their purported criminal cases in Beijing.

The bureau, under the supervision of the Department of Justice, was earlier ordered to explain why it deported the 14 Taiwanese along with 10 other Chinese nationals to Beijing pending resolution of a habeas corpus case filed by six of them.

The special 16th division of the appellate court earlier issued a writ directing the BI to produce the six Taiwanese in a court hearing set last Feb. 2. As it turned out, the BI deported the 24 foreigners that day.

The CA then directed BI officer-in-charge Rolando Ledesma to explain why he should not be cited in contempt for supposedly defying the court’s order.

In its reply filed through Assistant Solicitor General Renan Ramos, the bureau explained that the deportation of the Taiwanese was not done in haste or to intentionally render their petition for the issuance of a writ of habeas corpus moot.

“Inasmuch as petitioners are fugitives from justice, the immediate execution of the summary deportation order was in order. With all due respect to the Honorable Court, therefore, there was no intention on the BI OIC to blatantly defy or disobey this Honorable Court’s resolution of Jan. 21, 2011,” he stressed.

Ledesma said as early as Dec. 29, 2010, deportation proceedings had commenced and that after a month, the Immigration’s Board of Commissioners deliberated on the deportation charges.

The BI chief added that a summary deportation order was only issued on Feb. 1 after the fugitives failed to present their passports.

He said the Taiwanese nationals are considered fugitives from justice who pose risks to the public, thus, their summary deportation was warranted.

Meanwhile, in a separate memorandum also submitted to the CA, Ledesma denied the claim of the petitioners that their detention was illegal because a result of an unlawful arrest and that they were not accorded their basic rights and denied the right to counsel.

The petitioners further alleged in their petition for writ of habeas corpus that the search warrant issued against them was defective as it did not contain a particular description of the place to be searched and the persons and things to be seized.

They also denied that they are undocumented, overstaying, undesirable aliens, having presented their valid travel documents to the BI.

Ledesma explained that the petitioners were held under detention by virtue of the charge sheet for violation of Section 37 (a) of CA No. 613 issued on Dec. 30, 2010 and the amended charge sheet issued on Jan. 13, 2011.

CA Associate Justice Vicente Veloso, chair of the CA special 16th division handling the case of the Taiwanese, said the appellate court will have to study Ledesma’s explanation and resolve the issue soon. – With Pia Lee-Brago