Risa, Win question BI amid Harry Roque exit from PH

Senate Deputy Minority Leader Risa Hontiveros and Senator Sherwin Gatchalian on Wednesday said the Bureau of Immigration (BI) has a lot of explaining to do as they question former presidential spokesperson Harry Roque's exit from the Philippines.

The senators cited the escape of dismissed Bamban, Tarlac mayor Alice Guo in the case of Roque's departure from the country. Both Guo and Roque are implicated in the illegal Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs).

In an interview, Gatchalian said that although Roque has no hold departure order, the controversial lawyer should have been tracked through an Immigration Lookout Bulletin Order (ILBO) due to the contempt order of the House of Representatives.

"[ILBO] activates all the ingress and egress, all the border control natin. And yet, nakalabas siya. So talagang malaking pagkukulang ng Immigration kung paano siya nakalabas," Gatchalian said.

(ILBO activates all the ingress and egress. All the border controls in our country and yet, Roque was able to depart the country. So there is negligence on the part of the Immigration bureau.)

"I hope this is not an Alice Guo part 2 na allegedly nag barko and all that. But hindi ka pwede mag barko all the way to the Middle East. It's impossible yan. Malaki talaga ang pagkukulang ng Bureau of Immigration pagdating sa border control. And, ito yung isang bagay na titignan din namin," he added.

(I hope this is not Alice Guo part 2 who allegedly left the country through a ship and all that. You cannot ride a ship all the way to the Middle East. That's impossible. So I believe the BI is negligent in terms of border control and this is one of the issues that we are looking at.)

For Gatchalian, Roque's exit without formal departure records is "concerning" as "high-profile personalities" such as himself should be easier to track.

"It's either may mga sindikato at corrupt officials na pinatakas siya or talagang mahina 'yung ating sistema at proseso dito. It can be both. So, ito kailangan imbestigahan," he said.

(It's either there is a syndicate or corrupt official who let him escape or our system and process is really that weak. It can be both. So we need to investigate this.)

"I'm thinking of looking at this seriously, not because of Harry Roque alone, but nangyari na ito kay Alice Guo at siguro nangyayari ito regularly, hindi lang natin nalalaman. So dapat tignan talaga yung pagkukulang ng Bureau of Immigration," he added.

(I'm thinking of looking at this seriously, not because of Harry Roque alone, but it already happened in the case of Alice Guo and it might be happening regularly, we are just not aware of it. So we really need to look at BI's negligence.)

While the truth on Roque's departure has yet to be established, Gatchalian believes that the BI is the "weakest link" in this case.

The senator, who actively participated in the Senate investigation into illegal POGOs, warned that if these cases persist it will "weaken" government institutions.

"Ang danger dito, it's weakness of our institution. Nobody will believe us anymore. Kahit na mag-issue ng warrant ang House, issue ang warrant ng Senate, issue ang warrant ng executive, for example, NBI, pwede lang sila tumakas at pumunta sa ibang bansa," he said.

(The danger here is the weakness of our institution. Nobody will believe us anymore. Even if the House, Senate, or the Executive issues a warrant, anyone can just escape the country.)

"It weakens the institution because justice is not being served. When you say justice, full cycle yan, from the start to the end. Pero kung sa gitna nakakatakas siya, then walang kwenta ang institutions natin," he added.

(It weakens the institution because justice is not being served. When you say justice, that's a full cycle from start to the end. But if in the middle of the process, the fugitives were able to escape, then our institutions are worthless.)

In a separate statement, Hontiveros, who led the Senate investigation into POGOs, urged the BI and other law enforcement agencies to identify as soon as possible the personalities who might have helped Roque "escape undetected."

"Ang Dubai ay isang POGO hub kaya baka mga POGO actors din ang tumulong sa kanya," Hontiveros noted.

(Dubai is a POGO hub. So there might be POGO actors who have helped him.)

"The BI still has a lot of explaining to do. Kahit ang pagtakas ni Guo Hua Ping papuntang Indonesia, wala pa rin silang sagot kung paano nangyari," she added.

(The BI has still no answer on Guo Hua Ping's escape to Indonesia.)

The lawmaker also hit the BI over the supposed swift escape of fugitives from the country.

"Kapag mga ordinaryong Pilipino na lumalabas ng bansa, pahirapahan sa Immigration, pero kapag mga pugante, tila ang dali makalusot," she said.

(When ordinary Filipinos travel abroad, they face difficulties at Immigration, but it seems easy for fugitives to slip through.)

"POGO is officially banned in the country kaya dapat wala nang anumang impluwensya ang mga taga-POGO sa ating mga institusyon, lalo na sa ating Immigration," she stated.

(POGO is officially banned in the country, so there should be no influence from POGO personalities on our institutions, especially in our Immigration system.)

On Tuesday, the BI said it is planning to file cases against the former presidential spokesperson who likely left the Philippines via illegal means.

This was after Roque’s camp submitted a counter-affidavit on the trafficking complaint against him which was notarized in Abu Dhabi, UAE.

According to the BI, records show that former President Rodrigo Duterte’s former spokesperson had no attempt to exit the country through formal channels.

Roque’s latest recorded travel was in July when he arrived from Los Angeles, California.

Earlier in the day, BI spokesperson Dana Sandoval said there is no indication that personnel of the agency helped Roque leave the country.—RF, GMA Integrated News