DOJ turns down Senate request to put Ongpin official in watch list

MANILA, Philippines—Justice Secretary Leila de Lima has turned down the request of the Senate Blue Ribbon committee to put in the immigration watch list an official of a company controlled by businessman Roberto Ongpin.

De Lima, in a letter sent to committee chair Sen. Teofisto Guingona III on Tuesday, said her hands “are tied as long as the temporary restraining order (TRO) issued by the Supreme Court is in effect.”

The committee earlier requested the DOJ to put Josephine Manalo, secretary of Ongpin in the Delta Venture Resources Inc. (DVRI), in the immigration watch list. Manalo allegedly signed the DVRI’s loan documents with the Development Bank of the Philippines.

The Senate committee is undertaking an inquiry into the operations of the Ongpin-controlled DVRI in connection with a P600-million loan it got from the DBP.

In her letter, De Lima said her hands are tied from preventing all persons who are subject of an investigation or criminal complaint from leaving the country.

She said that the DOJ cannot put anyone in the watch list order with the TRO issued by the Supreme Court against the implementation of Department Circular 41 still in place.

DC 41 gave the DoJ the authority to place in the watch list or hold departure order persons subjected to investigation or complaints. The high court issued a TRO against its implementation after former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and her husband Lawyer Jose Miguel Arroyo questioned its constitutionality.

“Until the TRO is lifted and the authority of the Secretary of Justice to issue Watch List Orders is upheld by the Supreme Court, we lament that the undersigned cannot order the inclusion of Ms. [Josephine] Manalo or any other person subject of the Committee’s investigations and hearings in the Bureau of Immigration Watch List,” De Lima said in her letter to Guingona.

But De Lima said she has ordered Immigration Chief Ricardo David to be on the lookout for Manalo should she pass through the immigration counters in any international airports and seaports and inform the Senate about her location.

“This is a problematic situation because we have high profile cases already subject of resolution like the Rabusa case and Palparan case,” De Lima said at a press conference at the DoJ.

She said complainants against Jovito Palparan are requesting that an extension be given on his inclusion in the watch list.

Also submitted for resolution is the complaint filed by former military budget officer George Rabusa against several military officials, De Lima added.

“These are high ranking military officials and they have all the means. With the TRO in place, we cannot prevent them from leaving the country,” she said.