Metro Manila (CNN Philippines) — After five hearings, the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee wrapped up its investigation on Thursday on the Bureau of Immigration (BI) corruption scandal.
Committee Chairman Sen. Richard Gordon cleared Macau-based gaming tycoon Jack Lam of bribery charges, as he said the immigration incident was a case of extortion by BI officers.
However, the Senator said he is looking into the possible negligence of Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre, and the liability of former Chief Supt. Wally Sombero, Lam’s supposed associate who allegedly tried to indirectly bribe Aguirre and gave money to former Immigration deputy commisioners Al Argosino and Michael Robles.
The committee also established that former Immigration head Jaime Morente and former intelligence chief Charles Calima should be held liable, as the two were working together on the P50-million immigration incident, with Calima giving confidential information to Morente.
The amount was supposedly given for the release of over 1,300 illegal Chinese workers who were arrested from Lam’s casino in Clark, Pampanga.
Gordon questioned why it was the justice department who had to tip off the immigration bureau about the Chinese nationals working without labor permits in Lam’s illegal gambling operation.
“Kayo ang immigration, kayo ang gatekeeper, paano nakakapasok ‘yan? (You are the immigration, you are the gatekeeper, how did they enter?)” the Senator asked the immigration officials.
Morente explained the Chinese nationals arrived in the country as tourists with tourist visas.
He shared the intel only with Calima, and not with Aguirre, as they were still building up the case.
The Senate committee noted Argosino and Robles cited the same reason, as it took the two some time to report the bribe money to their superiors.
Robles caught the ire of Gordon when he refused to answer the Senator’s question on whether Calima indeed went to Robles’ office on December 2, 2016.
Calima supposedly told Robles that he knew of what transpired at the City of Dreams in Pasay City on November 27, when Robles and Argosino allegedly received P50 million from Lam’s group.
Robles invoked his right to be silent, pending graft and corruption charges filed against him before the Ombudsman.
“I’m respecting the authority of the body, but I intend to speak at the proper forum already…We have been invited here as resource persons, we have been humiliated here,” Robles said.
An irate Gordon slammed his gavel.
“Are you accusing me of humiliating you or any senator here?” Gordon asked.
“So you don’t want to answer? I will put you in contempt. I will lock you up here and I will put you in contempt. I have done that before,” Gordon said.
He added Robles had answered the same question before, he was just asking Robles to affirm that he met with Calima.
Gordon had the Senate sergeant-at-arms on standby for Robles’ possible arrest, which he said he would order after the hearing.
“You can listen to the proceedings but after the proceedings we will cite you in contempt,” Gordon told Robles.
After four legislative hearings into the Immigration mess, Gordon told CNN Philippines he believes it was indeed a case of extortion committed by the former Immigration officials.
Sombero had denied the bribery allegations and instead accused Argosino and Robles of extorting money from Lam.
But Sombero also has “unclean hands” because he kept the ₱10 million of the ₱60 million supposed extortion money, Gordon told CNN Philippines shortly after the fourth hearing on February 16.
During the previous hearings, senators observed that Robles seems like an “unwilling accomplice” to his senior fraternity brother, Argosino. The embattled public officials are both members of the San Beda College of Law’s Lex Talionis Fraternitas Inc., the same fraternity group of Aguirre and President Rodrigo Duterte.
CNN Philippines’ correspondent Cecille Lardizabal and digital producers Eimor Santos and Ver Marcelo contributed to this report.
