Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II has issued an Immigration Lookout Bulletin Order (ILBO) against ranking officials from the Aquino administration and 41 others implicated in the P8.7-billion right of way scam in General Santos City.
Covered by the ILBO are former Budget Secretary Florencio “Butch” Abad and former Public Works and Highways Secretary Rogelio Singson and a certain Nelson Ti, the financier of the alleged syndicate and a close friend of former President Benigno Aquino III.
Aside from the three, covered by the ILBO are the following: Wilma Mamburam, Col. Chino Mamburam, Mercedita Dumlao, Leonardo Dinopol, Evelyn Paloso, Rudy Hadji Ong, Marissa Tiongson Seguirre, Mae D. Javier, Amei Amel A. Velayo, William P. Uy, Allan Manansala, Michael P. Baguio, Sarah Guro, Edgar Pampanga, Engr. Rodel Unos, Reynaldo Tamayo, Atty. Estrella Decena Zaldevar, Director Ser John Pastrana, Raymund Ramos, Lisa L. Bag-ao, Marciana G. Herrera, Aristeo O. Reyes, Laureano B. Suan Jr., Patrick B. Gatan, Atty. Peter Armand L. Henares, Mangolamba D. Haji Ali, Roy L. Manao, Nashef A. Papandayan, Noraisa U. Abdullah, Jaime Pacanan, a certain Engineer Romy, Alberto Olasiman, Tats Ampatuan, Abdulmanan Ali @Rams/Ram Ali, a certain Mahir, Police Officer 3 Salapudin or Phods, Nehru Ampatuan, Guidtayan P. Gani, PO3 Farouk Ampatuan and PO2 Samir Ampatuan
A ILBO is different from a court-issued hold departure order (HDO) since the former only directs the Bureau of Immigration to be on the lookout for the subject and to verify the status of a case against the subject person and not to restrict an individual from leaving the country.
But a person subject to the ILBO must seek an Allow Departure Order (ADO) from the DOJ chief itself to be allowed to leave.
A witness, Roberto Catapang Jr., now under the Witness Protection Program (WPP), came out and gave a detailed description of the scam.
The group involved allegedly operates by using fake titles and non-existent persons and submit them to the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) to claim for just compensation from the expropriation because it will affect the construction of a national highway in General Santos City.
From 2009 when the syndicate started to operate, the members of this syndicate were able to process more than 300 folders containing fake road-right-of-way amounting to more or less P8.7 billion. /je