ALICE GUO PART 2? Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian bewails the Bureau of Immigration’s failure to maintain border control as shown by the departure of first, dismissed Bamban Mayor Alice Guo, and now, former presidential spokesperson Harry Roque. —Inquirer file photo
MANILA, Philippines — Authorities are investigating whether former presidential spokesperson Harry Roque left the country using a private plane, Justice Undersecretary Raul Vasquez said on Wednesday.
The Bureau of Immigration (BI) earlier said it was looking into how Roque may have exited “illegally,” after it reported that there was no record of his departure.
“The big issue here is the private hangars and ports that could also be used,” Vasquez said in an interview with dzBB.
Citing Immigration Commissioner Joel Viado, Vasquez pointed out that the Civil Aeronautics Authority of the Philippines has jurisdiction over private hangars.
READ: Harry Roque’s escape from PH possibly ushered by Pogo – Hontiveros
“That’s one area where we need to improve our processes because this is the second time,” he said, pointing to the case of dismissed Bamban Mayor Alice Guo, who was also able to sneak out of the country in July to evade a Senate warrant for her arrest. She ended up in Indonesia until she was caught by authorities and brought back to the Philippines in September.
Optional check
“Even flying schools can fly persons out of the Philippines,” Vasquez noted, adding that immigration officers only inspect private hangars upon request.
The BI’s legal team earlier said they were studying the possibility of filing charges against Roque for his alleged unauthorized departure.
The former presidential spokesperson confirmed on Tuesday that he went to Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates to have his counteraffidavit for the qualified human trafficking case against him notarized.
However, Viado revealed that BI records showed no recent attempt by Roque to leave the country through official channels, saying, “It’s impossible that he left through formal ports.”
The Department of Justice (DOJ) issued an immigration lookout bulletin order on Aug. 6 against Roque and 11 others linked to Lucky South 99 Corp., a Philippine offshore gaming operator (Pogo) hub in Porac, Pampanga, that authorities raided in June for alleged human trafficking and other illegal activities.
Sen. Risa Hontiveros, meanwhile, said that some individuals behind Pogos may have helped Roque leave the country undetected.
Hontiveros, who had led the two-year-long Senate inquiry into Pogo-related crimes, said the BI should immediately name the persons who aided Roque in bypassing official immigration channels.
Pogo hub
“Dubai is a Pogo hub. That’s why it’s possible that Pogo actors had also helped him,” Hontiveros told the Inquirer.
“The BI still has a lot of explaining to do,” she said. “When ordinary Filipinos leave the country, passing through immigration is difficult for them. But when it comes to fugitives, it’s easy for them to slip through.”
Hontiveros pointed out that the BI had yet to ascertain how Guo sneaked out of the country nearly five months after she evaded immigration authorities.
Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian, who had teamed up with Hontiveros in looking into the criminal activities linked to Pogos, said Roque’s caper should be formally investigated.
“I hope this is not an ‘Alice Guo part two’ because you cannot take a boat all the way to the Middle East. It’s impossible,” Gatchalian said in an interview, referring to Guo’s story that she rode on several boats to get to Malaysia.
“[BI] has really failed in maintaining border control. That’s one of the things we should look into,” he added.
Gatchalian said Roque’s travel abroad was “concerning” as it showed yet again that the BI was the “weakest link” in the government’s fight against transnational crimes.
“I’m looking at this seriously, not because of Harry Roque alone, but [because] this already happened to Alice Guo. Maybe this is happening regularly,” he said.