Gatchalian sees Immigration as ‘weakest link’ following Roque’s exit

Metro Manila, Philippines – Lapses in the Bureau of Immigration allowed former presidential spokesperson Harry Roque to leave the country undetected despite a lookout order, Senator Sherwin Gatchalian said Wednesday.

“So far, it seems to me that the immigration is the weakest link. But I'm still gathering more information as to what are the steps that he made in order to escape or leave the country and escape accountability,” Gatchalian said in a chance interview at the Senate.

Gatchalian pointed out that while no hold departure order was issued against Roque, the Immigration Lookout Bulletin Order (ILBO) should have alerted authorities before his departure. The ILBO was issued in connection with charges related to his alleged involvement in a raided offshore gaming hub in Porac, Pampanga.

On Tuesday, Roque admitted to having his counter-affidavit notarized in Abu Dhabi but said he is no longer there.

“Ang lookout bulletin kasi 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.

[Translation: The lookout bulletin activates all our ingress and egress, all our border controls. And yet, he was able to leave. So it's clearly a major lapse on the part of immigration as to how he managed to get out.]

“I hope this is not an Alice Guo part 2 na allegedly nagbarko and all that. But hindi ka pwede magbarko all the way to the Middle East (I hope this is not another Alice Guo situation where someone allegedly took a ship and all that. But you can’t take a ship all the way to the Middle East),” he added.

Dismissed Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo, also known as Chinese national Guo Hua Ping escaped the country in July despite a Senate arrest order, but immigration officials have yet to explain how she fled.

In Roque’s case, Gatchalian suggested that syndicates or corrupt officials may have facilitated his escape, or that the country’s border control system is simply weak—or possibly both.

He said he is considering filing a resolution to initiate a Senate investigation into the matter.

“Not because of Harry Roque alone, but nangyari na ito kay Alice Guo at siguro nangyayari ito regularly, hindi lang natin nalalaman (Not just because of Harry Roque, but this also happened with Alice Guo, and it’s probably happening regularly—we just don’t know about it),” he said.

“Ang danger dito, it's the weakness of our institution. Nobody will believe us anymore… 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 (But if one can escape right in the middle of it, then our institutions are incompetent),” he said.

In a separate statement, Senate Deputy Minority Leader Risa Hontiveros said the Immigration Bureau has a lot of explaining to do about Roque’s escape.

“I expect the BI, along with our other law enforcers, to identify at the soonest possible time who helped Harry Roque escape undetected. Ang Dubai ay isang POGO hub kaya baka mga POGO actors din ang tumulong sa kanya (Dubai is a POGO hub so POGO actors may have helped him),” Hontiveros said.

The BI earlier said Roque may have left the country through illegal means, such as falsifying immigration clearances, and that it is considering filing a case against him.

Meanwhile, Roque maintained that there is no order barring his travel outside the country.

“Flight from a congressional contempt [citation] cannot be the evidence of anything,” Roque said.