CEBU CITY—The Office of the Ombudsman has ordered a three-month suspension of an immigration officer for refusing to receive an official communication from the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) regarding the arrest of two Koreans.
Bureau of Immigration (BI) Cebu alien control officer Casimiro Madarang III was guilty of simple misconduct and ordered suspended without pay.
The antigraft office directed the BI commissioner to implement the penalty and immediately submit its compliance report.
Madarang declined to comment, saying he had yet to read the Ombudsman’s decision.
In his decision, graft investigation and prosecution officer Darious Sagadal found sufficient evidence to prove that Madarang violated the law.
“There was no rational reason why Madarang should refuse to receive the official communication. His refusal to accept it is a violation of a standard behavior for government employees,” said Sagadal whose ruling was approved by Deputy Ombudsman for the Visayas Paul Elmer Clemente.
Lawyer Augusto Isidoro, former NBI-7 assistant Central Visayas director, filed a complaint against Madarang at the Ombudsman-Visayas last year for refusing to take custody of Goo Jonghoi and Kim Sang Yeon who were arrested for selling used clothes in two separate operations.
The two Koreans also lacked travel documents and had to be turned over to the custody of the BI.
In answer to the case filed by the NBI, Madarang explained in his pleadings to the Ombudsman that he refused to take custody of the two Koreans because the NBI agents did not coordinate with them in conducting the operations.
Without prior coordination, he said, the BI could not accept the turnover of arrested foreigners as stated in BI’s Operation Order No. SBM-2014-046. The Ombudsman agreed with Madarang on this matter, but said the immigration officer should have at least received the official communication sent by the NBI.
“His claim that the wordings therein would make it appear that he accepted custody of the foreigners is untenable. He could have easily made a note in the receiving copy of the communication that the BI did not take custody of the foreigners,” Sagadal said. RC