In response to the incident where the Bureau of Immigration (BI) of the Philippines allowed three expelled Chinese POGO (Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators) executives to purchase their own plane tickets, which ultimately failed to facilitate their smooth repatriation to China, Senator Sherwin Gatchalian sternly condemned the action as "absolutely absurd" and called for an immediate investigation by the Department of Justice (DOJ) to determine if there was any dereliction of duty or collusion among officials.
During a Senate hearing, officials admitted that although the three POGO executives were expelled, they were not returned to China because they had purchased flights with layovers, raising questions about the rigor of the deportation process.
Gatchalian angrily criticized: "This is a huge joke! These POGO executives are financially powerful and well-connected; they obviously know how to evade supervision. Look at Guo Huaping, she used these loopholes to successfully escape! Allowing these people to buy their own tickets, is the immigration treating deportation like a travel arrangement?"
Gatchalian further stated that this incident exposes potential corruption within the immigration bureau, with some officials possibly colluding with POGO forces, deliberately allowing them to escape. He pointed out: "Corruption in the immigration bureau is not news; officials have been investigated for related cases in the past. Now, such a basic mistake has occurred again, giving us reason to suspect that some might be accepting bribes and deliberately letting them off."
At the hearing, Fortunato Manahan, the head of intelligence at the immigration bureau, argued that due to "budget constraints," the bureau could not afford the airfare for deportations, hence allowing POGO executives to purchase their own tickets. However, Gatchalian immediately refuted this claim, emphasizing that the government had already allocated funds for deportation actions, and the bureau should not use "lack of budget" as an excuse.
"This is completely a lie! The government not only has a special budget for deportation actions but also allocated additional funds due to POGO-related issues. Since there is money, why let these people buy their own tickets? It makes no sense!" Gatchalian questioned.
Given the severity of this failed repatriation, the Senate has formally requested the immigration bureau to submit a detailed report and to strengthen the supervision of deportation actions to prevent similar incidents from occurring again. Meanwhile, the senator urged the DOJ to intervene and investigate potential corrupt practices to ensure that the officials involved are held accountable.
At the hearing, immigration intelligence officer Fortunato Manahan admitted that the bureau could not confirm whether these three individuals had actually arrived in China. This statement prompted questions from Huntiveros: "The immigration ordered the expulsion of 438 people, including these three POGO executives, but why is there no detailed information about their final whereabouts? The deportation process should be fully monitored; how could such an oversight occur?"
Immigration official Daniel Santos responded that according to current procedures, the immigration bureau only ensures that the deportees board the plane, and unless they are officially declared fugitives, their whereabouts are not further tracked. For fugitives, the bureau takes escort measures or ensures that the relevant embassies are informed.
"If they are declared fugitives, we take additional measures. But in this case, they were not fugitives," Santos explained.
Huntiveros expressed disappointment with the immigration's explanation and emphasized that the repatriation did not achieve its intended goals.
"I want to make it clear for the record—these three POGO executives did not arrive in China. There were serious problems with the deportation process, and the immigration merely completed the basic operations, but the real goal was not achieved," she stated.
She further pointed out that there are significant loopholes in the current deportation policy, especially in cases involving POGO, and the government should strengthen supervision to ensure that those being deported cannot easily evade the law.
Huntiveros warned that due to flaws in the Philippines' border control, these three blacklisted POGO executives might even have quietly returned to the Philippines.
"If the current deportation policy remains so lenient, especially in dealing with POGO-related issues, we must reevaluate its effectiveness. Over the past year, this issue has become a major concern for the government, and we can no longer tolerate such mistakes," she emphasized.
She further questioned the Philippines' border security management, pointing out: "Our borders seem to be full of loopholes, and criminals appear to be able to easily come and go. This is a serious national security issue, and the government must take stricter control measures."
The Senate is expected to further review the deportation policy in the coming weeks and has requested the immigration bureau to submit a detailed report to ensure that similar incidents do not occur in the future.
