Aguirre denies allowing Sombero to leave Philippines

MANILA, Philippines —  Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II insisted that he did not allow former police officer and alleged bribery bag man Wally Sombero to leave the country

"I never allowed Mr. Sombero to fly to Canada or to anywhere else outside the Philippines," Aguirre said at his confirmation hearing with the Commission on Appointments on Wednesday.

He added that Sombero has been issued a lookout bulletin order, giving immigration officers have certain judicial responsibilities toward individuals covered by the order.

Sombero left the country on January 17 supposedly to have a medical check-up in Singapore, before flying to the United States and Canada. While abroad, Sombero missed three Senate hearings on the Bureau of Immigration bribery scandal.

Sombero arrived in the Philippines on Tuesday and in an ambush interview at Ninoy Aquino International Airport's Terminal 2, he said that he sought Aguirre's permission to leave the country.

"Nakalagay naman sa ILBO, hindi naman kailangan payagan ka, mag paalam ka. Ipaalam mo, isignify mo yung iyong plano na pag alis," Sombero said in the interview.

Aguirre, to his defense, said he could only allow anyone on the lookout bulletin to travel abroad when he issued an allow departure order.

"For the record, I never issued any Allow Departure Order to Mr. Sombero," Aguirre said.

He said immigration officers did not call the attention of the Department of Justice on the violation of the lookout order, but also summoned them to a meeting to see possible liabilities of those who let Sombero slip.

"As of this writing, the fact finding report of the incident is now with the DOJ technical staff for appropriate and expedite dIsposition," Aguirre said.

Sombero is expected to appear before the Senate blue ribbon committee hearing at 9 a.m. on Thursday for the alleged bribery case involving Macau-based casino tycoon Jack Lam and two BI executives.

Lam, through Sombero, allegedly bribed two immigration officials with P50 million for the release of the 1,316 Chinese nationals arrested and detained at the Fontana Leisure Park and Casino over overstaying and other immigration violations.