Dismissed BI workers air their side: 18 employees hopeful government will clear their names

CLARK FREEPORT, Pampanga, Philippines – Eighteen employees of the Bureau of Immigration (BI) whose dismissed case was recently reversed by Justice Secretary Leila de Lima, have expressed confidence that the Aquino administration would eventually clear them of any involvement in alleged human trafficking at the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport (DMIA) here.

“It is unfortunate that the case was reversed, but we trust in the wisdom of Secretary De Lima and we feel that with her solid credibility, any decision clearing us of the charges will at last heal the pain that has befallen our families,” said Heranio Manalo, a former BI supervisor at the DMIA who is among the 18 respondents in the case.

On July 16, De Lima issued a memorandum sustaining Senior State Prosecutor Aileen Marie Gutierrez’s recommendation to file charges of grave misconduct, conduct prejudicial to the best interest of service, dishonesty, gross neglect of duty against the 18 immigration officials at DMIA.

“The undersigned (De Lima) sets aside the memorandum issued by (former acting Justice secretary Alberto Agra) dated June 28, 2010 and approves en toto the report of the DOJ investigating panel dated April 14, 2010 finding a prima facie case against the subject (immigration) personnel,” the new memorandum said.

The 18 were initially accused by co-employee, Racel Ong amid allegations of human trafficking purportedly in collusion with illegal recruiters at the DMIA.

On June 28, or three days before he stepped down from office, Agra issued a memorandum, saying Ong’s complaint affidavit was “devoid of the necessary particulars” and “unsupported by other corroborating testimonies.”

De Lima, however, gave weight to Ong’s testimony as being based on a first-hand, personal knowledge of the incidents at the airport.

In an interview, Manalo cited the need to present anew to the DOJ background on the case.

He recalled that the complainant, Ong, was initially identified by four alleged victims of human trafficking as the one who had escorted them to their flight to Kuala Lumpur on May 7, 2008.

“Sometime in June, 2008, she was designated by the DOJ as acting immigration officer as per department order signed by then secretary Raul Gonzales,” he said.

Human trafficking

Manalo recalled that in a forum on human trafficking attended by Justice Undersecretary Ricardo Blancaflor in October of the same year, the human trafficking victims, who left the country via the DMIA and later sent back, identified Ong as the immigration officer who had facilitated their departure.

Manalo said that because of this, he recommended that Ong be transferred to the BI central office in Manila.

“For humanitarian consideration of her being a single mother to three children, she was recalled from the central office and assigned to the one-stop center of the Clark Development Corp. at Clark sometime in January 2009, but what she wanted was to be assigned back to the DMIA which I declined in order not to undermine the campaign of the bureau against trafficking,” he said.  

Manalo also recalled that Ong faced a warrant of arrest in August last year arising from the case filed by the alleged victims of human trafficking, although she was arrested only last February in Capas, Tarlac.

“So we were taken by surprise when later, we ended up being charged instead,” he lamented.   

In dismissing Ong’s case, Agra cited inconsistencies in Ong’s testimonies, including her identification of one respondent Ramos Lapid as a daily supervisor at DMIA during her stint at the airport from May 2006 to October 2008. Lapid was designated supervisor only in October 2009, Agra noted.

Agra also cited Ong’s claim against another respondent Misael Tayag of adding or removing names from computer files on hold departure orders, watchlist, or blacklist allegedly in collusion with his wife who worked as computer operator at the DMIA. “Tayag was able to adequately explain this is not possible at the DMIA since these entries can only be accessed and revised from the central office in Manila and not at the regional level.”

Manalo was instrumental in the arrest of a Singaporean woman when he was still immigration supervisor at the DMIA. The woman was arrested with the assistance of a task force then headed by former Vice President Noli de Castro.

He also was instrumental in the campaign of Immigration Commissioner Marcelino Libanan against human trafficking when Korean national Shin Bok Dool who is now facing charges before the DOJ.