Waive P187-T unpaid dues, witness asks gov’t

THE state witness in the celebrated Mandaue shabu lab case may be out of jail but he can’t  leave the country yet.

Hung Chin Chang still has unpaid immigration fees after being incarcerated for almost eight years.

Chang, a British tourist known also as Simon Lao, is now asking Commissioner Ricardo David JR of the Bureau of Immigration (BI) to waive the fees amounting to P187,500 that he incurred while in jail.

The court ordered Lao’s release last  Feb. 26 for turning state witness against the Manduae Shabu Lab 11.

The syndicate composed of Filipino-Chinese businessman Calvin de Jesus Tan and 10 others were meted life imprisonment for operating a shabu laboratory that was raided by authorities in August 2004 in Mandaue City.

Lao requested the BI to exempt him from paying the fees since he didn’t get to enjoy his stay in the Philippines for the duration of 7.5 years.

He said he was imprisoned a month after his arrival on Aug. 25, 2004, until Feb. 26, 2012, for violation of Sec. 8, Art. II of Republic Act No. 9165 better known as the Comprehensive Dangerous Drug Law of the Philippines.

Lao said he cannot afford to pay the overstaying fees since he has no means to raise the amount and his family turned their backs on him.

Lao’s testimony helped the government in the successful prosecution of the “Shabu Lab 11.” UP Cebu intern Sean Timothy Salvador