Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II on Tuesday said he will sack two assistant commissioners of the Bureau of Immigration who allegedly extorted money from gambling tycoon Jack Lam in exchange for the release of overstaying Chinese nationals.
In an interview with Radyo Inquirer 990AM, Aguirre said he would recommend to President Rodrigo Duterte the relief of Al Argosino and Michael Robles, who he said had filed 30-day leaves of absence.
“I will recommend to the President the immediate relief of these two as well as others who may be involved in the incident,” Aguirre said.
READ: 2 BI execs given 24 hrs to explain ‘extortion’ try on Jack Lam
Aguirre said he personally talked to the deputy commissioners who claimed that they were “framed up,” adding that other officials were also possibly involved in the scandal.
Argosino and Robles are fraternity brothers of Duterte and Aguirre.
“They told me they were set up, framed up. ‘Yun ang kanilang depensa… Nakausap ko rin yung 2 commissioners, marami pang involved, kaya magfa-file sila ng complaint,” Aguirre said.
“Masama ang loob namin especially sa fraternity pero sapagkat nabahiran ng dumi ang aming fraternity and of course our relations with the President na nagtiwala sa kanyang mga ka-brod,” he added.
(They told me they were set up, framed up. That was their defense…I also talked to the 2 commissioners, there are many others involved, so they are filing a complaint.
(We feel bad, especially in the fraternity because the name of our fraternity has been tainted and of course, so is our relations with the President who trusted his ‘brods’.)
Argosino and Robles were under probe of the National Bureau of Investigation following the allegations written by columnist Ramon Tulfo that two BI associate commissioners extorted P50 million from Lam in exchange for the release of 600 out of 1,316 arrested Chinese nationals working illegally in the country.
READ: Rapacious immigration commissioners
Sources from the Department of Justice also showed the Inquirer copies of a camera footage in a Parañaque casino mall showing men identified as Argosino and Robles receiving five paper bags allegedly containing P10 million each from Wally Sombero, a former police colonel linked to Lam. CDG/rga