LAWMAKERS are demanding that authorities unmask the syndicate in immigration whose modus operandi is to delay the deportation of foreign fugitives such as suspected Chinese crime lord Wang Bo, who become targets for extortion.
“We want to get to the bottom of this. There seems to be an unseen hand that’s working here that makes these fugitives and undesirable aliens vulnerable to extortion,” said Abakada Rep. Jonathan dela Cruz, a member of the House panel investigating the Wang case.
Wang is at the center of a scandal in which Immigration officials have been accused of accepting millions of pesos in bribes in exchange for reversing their March 5 deportation order against the Chinese suspect.
A release order for Wang dated May 21 was set aside after allegations of bribery surfaced.
At a hearing of the House committee on good government and public accountability, Justice Secretary Leila De Lima said Wang’s was a “curious case” because he had not been deported after 47 days, even though normal deportation proceedings took only from five to 15 days.
She also pointed out that Wang and Jose Tan, who sued him, were represented by the same lawyer, Bryan Bantilan.
The House panel, chaired by Pampanga Rep. Oscar Rodriguez, is looking into the allegations that Wang was made to cough up P440 million which was then used to bribe lawmakers for the swift passage of the Bangsamoro Basic Law.
Immigration Commissioner Siegfred Mison and his deputy commissioners Gilbert Repizo and Abdullah Mangotara have been exchanging accusations about the flip-flopping over Wang.
Testifying before the House panel Tuesday, Bantilan denied that he also represented Jose Tan in a bogus attempt to delay Wang’s deportation.
Bantilan also contradicted Wang’s claim that he did not represent Wang during the inquest.
Bantilan said it would have been impossible for Wang not to remember him because he had interviewed him for 15 minutes to discuss his defense during inquest proceedings.
This prompted Dasmarinas City Rep. Elpidio Barzaga, Dela Cruz and Leyte Rep. Ferdinand Martin Romualdez to demand that CCTV footage from the Bureau of Immigration be produced before the panel in the next hearing.
The footage, Barzaga said, would prove who between Wang and Bantilan was lying during their testimony under oath.
In the June 16 hearing, Wang said he did not know any Bryan Bantilan nor did he hire him as his lawyer. He said the lawyer that he hired was Dennis Manalo, who also came to the hearing as Wang’s counsel.
But in the July 7 hearing, when Wang and Bantilan were both present, Wang said he could not remember whether it was Bantilan who was his lawyer at inquest. But he maintained he did not hire him.
“How could he not remember when I interviewed him for 15 minutes to discuss his defense that he was not the same person as described by the Chinese Embassy as a fugitive and is wanted by Chinese authorities for allegedly being involved in illegal gambling activities in China?” Bantilan told the panel.
Bantilan said it was a certain “Mar” who hired him for Wang and that he was paid P20,000 for his appearance.
Bantilan said Immigration Special Prosecutor Antonio Rivera saw him with Wang during inquest on Feb. 11.
Rivera later confirmed this, saying it was Bantilan who represented Wang during the inquest.
But neither Rivera nor Mison could not respond when Bantilan said he did not act as a lawyer for Tan, the complainant against Wang.
Tan filed a P3-million estafa complaint against Wang, who allegedly defrauded him in a land deal using fictitious papers.
Tan then asked Mison to withhold Wang’s deportation because he was facing an estafa case in Manila.
“How is that possible that the lawyer for the complainant would also appear as lawyer for the one being sued?” Barzaga said.
But Bantilan said the signature affixed to Tan’s complaint was not his.
Barzaga demanded that Bantilan submit three specimen signatures to the panel for scrutiny by the National Bureau of Investigation.