Photo gallery: Chris Brown in Manila
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines) — R&B singer Chris Brown was barred from leaving the Philippines on Wednesday (July 22) by officials of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) due to a lookout bulletin issued by the Bureau of Immigration (BI), as ordered by the Department of Justice (DOJ) in a memorandum dated Tuesday (July 21).
The BI placed Brown and his promoter, John Michael Pio Roda, under an Immigration Lookout Bulletin due to a criminal complaint of estafa filed against them for “deceitful misrepresentation and swindling.”
According to the DOJ memo, complainant Glicerio P. Santos IV, head legal counsel of the Iglesia ni Cristo and chief operating officer of Maligaya Development Corp., said Brown and Pio Roda committed a breach of contract when the international star canceled his appearance at the 2015 Philippine Countdown event at the Philippine Arena in Bulacan last January 1.
Brown and Pio Roda continuously refused to return the money that had already been paid to them, Santos said.
Last Tuesday, Brown did perform at another concert at the Mall of Asia as planned.
But the DOJ issued the memo to compel him to return the money already paid to him for his New Year’s Eve appearance.
He and his promoter would only be allowed to leave after they had obtained an Emigration Clearance Certificate (ECC).
BI spokesperson Elaine Tan explained that the bulletin is not a hold departure order and is not, on its own, a bar to departure of subjects.
The order merely directed the BI to be on the lookout or on alert and take prudent steps to verify on the status of the criminal case against the subjects.
Brown was supposed to leave on Wednesday for a concert in Hong Kong.
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