Court of Appeals affirms sugar magnate's deportation

MANILA, Philippines - The Court of Appeals (CA) has affirmed an order of the Bureau of Immigration (BI) for the deportation of sugar magnate Jimmy Go, alias Jaime Gaisano, for being an illegal alien.

In a 15-page decision, the CA’s 12th division of the appeals court dismissed Go’s petition seeking reversal of an order issued by the Office of the President that affirmed the April 17, 2002 resolution issued by the BI finding Go to be a Chinese citizen and ordered his deportation to China.

The CA junked Go’s appeal to the OP after it was filed two years after the April 17, 2002 decision of the BI was issued, which was way beyond the period allowed by law.

“The April 17, 2002 decision of the BI has long become final and executory, thus can no longer be altered or modified, making the dismissal of the petitioners’ instant petition justified,” stated the ruling penned by Associate Justice Jane Aurora Lantion. Associate Justices Mario Guariña III and Mariflor Punzalan Castillo concurred.

The CA said the OP has no jurisdiction to entertain Go’s appeal in the first place since the decision of the BI has attained finality owing to his failure to file a motion for reconsideration.

Under the revised rules for deportation proceedings, the CA said, Go has three days from receipt of a copy of judgment to file a verified motion for reconsideration.

Go’s family ran the cash-strapped Noah’s Ark sugar refinery, which failed to settle a P900-million loan it borrowed from the United Coconut Planters Bank more than a decade ago. Suits are currently pending between Noah’s Ark and Cocobank and a syndicate of banks to stop the foreclosure of its 3.9-hectare sugar refinery in Mandaluyong, across the prime real estate Rockwell property in Makati City.

The deportation case against Go stemmed from a complaint filed by his business associate Luis Ramos, former executive director of Noah’s Ark.

In a complaint-affidavit filed before the BI, Ramos said while Go represents himself as a Filipino citizen, his birth certificate, issued by the Office of the Civil Registrar of Iloilo City, indicated his citizenship as “Chinese.”