BI chief not yet off the hook over fugitive’s flight

MANILA, Philippines - Immigration Commissioner Ricardo David is not off the hook yet in the flight of a South Korean fugitive last March 19.

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said the Department of Justice (DOJ) would look into the possible command responsibility of Bureau of Immigration (BI) officials, including David, in the case of Park Sung-jung when it starts its fact-finding investigation next week.

“Whether or not command responsibility attaches to this latest incident of irregularity involving a number of BI personnel will be determined after we get all the facts and relevant circumstances from the probe that we ordered,” De Lima told The STAR yesterday.

De Lima issued Department Order 204 yesterday forming a three-man panel to conduct the probe.

Senior Assistant State Prosecutor Aileen Maries Gutierrez is panel head with National Bureau of Investigation agents Jonathan Mengullo and Don Hernandez as its members.

The team was directed to coordinate with the intelligence division of the BI and submit a report for possible filing of criminal and administrative charges after 30 days.

However, BI spokesman Ma.Antonette Bucasas-Mangrobang said David could not be made accountable for the actions of his subordinates.

“Command responsibility presupposes that there was a command that was followed and the command followed was proven to have caused damage. But in this case, there was no command to the immigration officer to do what she did,” said Mangrobang.

She said immigration officer Roselle Sacendoncillo, who processed and stamped Park’s boarding pass, along with other BI employees, should be held liable for Park’s departure.

Sacendocillo reportedly disobeyed the agency’s standard operating procedure not to allow the departure of a blacklisted foreigner.

“When she was conducting primary inspection, as viewed in the close circuit television, the foreigner was wearing a cap. It is very basic that if there is any obstruction in the face or head of a foreigner the immigration officer should ask that the obstruction be removed for identification purposes,” Mangrobang added.

She said the BI also learned that a person from the Office of Transport Security escorted Park “throughout the airport process.”

The Korean embassy also informed the BI that there was no exit stamp in Park’s passport.

Mangrobang said Sacendoncillo was given 72 hours to explain before the Board of Discipline to determine if there was substantive evidence against her. She was also placed on preventive suspension.

Park’s working visa

De Lima said the investigation would include the issuance of a working visa to Park. She said the fugitive managed to secure the visa in what appeared to be connivance among BI personnel.

De Lima said officials and personnel of the BI’s legal division would be included in the probe.

“We strongly suspect that it was deliberately done by the encoder. We’re looking also into the possible involvement or culpability of the hearing officer who handled the deportation who, I was told, also handled his application for working visa,” she said.

The deportation order against Park was issued last June and a deportation warrant in August, sources told The STAR.

The DOJ chief said Park’s flight and working visa angered President Aquino, who wanted stern actions initiated against those involved.

De Lima said the DOJ would also look into possible corruption or bribery.

Park bought his ticket just hours before his flight, checked in late, and got on a Philippine Airlines flight directly with a stamped boarding pass.

Korean authorities at the Incheon International Airport in Seoul intercepted the fugitive, even without being alerted by Manila.

In 2011, another Korean fugitive – Kim Tae-dong – was able to escape BI custody.

Kim, 54, was wanted in his country for cheating in baccarat games at a Seoul casino in 2010. He escaped from St. Luke’s Medical Center, where he had been confined for hypertension, diabetes and abdominal pain.

Meanwhile, sources at the House of Representatives told The STAR that the BI officer tagged in the escape of Park was hired during the term of former immigration commissioner Marcelino Libanan.

Sacendoncillo is a provincemate of Libanan, sources said.

Sacendoncillo’s mother, Rosa, is a candidate for mayor in Sulat, their hometown, and a political ally of Libanan, who was also former congressman of Eastern Samar. – With Evelyn Macairan, Jess Diaz