Bureau of Immigration Commissioner Marcelino Libanan ordered yesterday an investigation into the alleged involvement of BI personnel at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) in a foiled attempt by two overseas Filipino workers to leave for abroad using fraudulent travel documents.
Libanan said the investigation must be conducted to determine if immigration officers and their supervisor who were on duty at the time Jenna Latao and Susana Edralin tried to leave the country.
“Heads will surely roll as a result of this incident. They have shamed our bureau by conniving with syndicates involved in the escort racket at the airport,” he warned, adding there would be no whitewash in the investigation.
Libanan ordered the investigation even when immigration officials at NAIA thwarted the unusual scheme employed by the passengers. It was learned the two pretended to be sick so they could reach the airport’s boarding area using wheelchair and evade detection of their fake documents.
Initial investigation showed a female immigration officer, whose identity was withheld pending investigation, cleared the two women for boarding.
A memorandum order was issued against the airport officer and her supervisor for them to explain why administrative charges should not be filed against them in relation to the incident.
Clodualdo Penera, head of the BI Migration Compliance and Monitoring Group, said Latao and Edralin were about to board a Cathay Pacific flight to Hong Kong when they were intercepted for using fake documents.
The two offloaded passengers, who assumed other identities, were caught possessing fake Philippine passports with fake Italian visas.
During interrogation, the two admitted they bought the fake passports from a certain Alan Cruz, who instructed them to pretend they were sick and request wheelchairs upon checking in at the airline counter. – Edu Punay