Sandiganbayan orders Argosino, Robles detention for plunder

Resigned Bureau of Immigration Commissioners Michael Robles and Al Argosino sit inside the car that will bring them to their detention at Camp Bagong Diwa, Taguig City. PHOTO/ Vince F. Nonato, PDI

The Sandiganbayan has ordered the detention of resigned Bureau of Immigration Commissioners Al Argosino and Michael Robles for the nonbailable offense of plunder on Tuesday.

The court’s Sixth Division issued on Tuesday the order for Argosino and Robles’ commitment in the Quezon City Jail annex at Camp Bagong Diwa, Taguig City.

Argosino and Robles were not deemed arrested because the warrants were not served through the police or other law enforcement agencies.

Since they were already in the court building, the Sandiganbayan sheriffs quietly brought the two to Camp Bagong Diwa that rainy Tuesday afternoon.

Also ordered detained for plunder was the alleged middleman, Asian Gaming Service Provider Association, Inc. president Wenceslao Sombero Jr.

Unlike the former BI commissioners, Sombero was not yet arrested nor had he surrendered as of press time.

https://twitter.com/VinceNonatoINQ/status/983596870864846848

This marks the first time in three years that public officials have been ordered arrested for the nonbailable case of plunder, since five legislators and several coaccused, including businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles, were detained for the pork barrel scam cases from 2014 to 2015.

When the Sixth Division issued its finding of probable cause to order the trio’s arrest, Argosino and Robles were already inside the office of Clerk of Court Mary Ruth Ferrer.

They had gone to the court to post bail of P60,000 each for the bailable offenses of graft, direct bribery, and violation of Presidential Decree No. 46, which prohibits giving gifts to public employees.

At that point, the court had already issued the arrest warrants for the bailable offenses. The order regarding the plunder case was only released when the two were already at the court to post bail.

Ferrer explained to reporters that the two were held in the office as they awaited the court’s action on their motion to defer the proceedings and the issuance of the arrest warrant.

She said the court opted to deny Argosino and Robles’ plea for the deferment, although their motion to quash the charges (which questions the validity of the Ombudsman’s indictment) will still be heard this Wednesday afternoon.

Argosino and Robles’ lawyer Wesley Young, and Sombero’s lawyers Laurence Arroyo and Jesi Lanete did not respond to requests for comment.

An arrest warrant was also issued against Macau-based tycoon Jack Lam, executive director of Jimei International Entertainment Group Ltd. He was only indicted for violation of violation of PD 46 and would only need to post a P10,000 bail for his temporary liberty.

The BI commissioners’ case is the first anomaly under the Duterte administration to have reached the Sandiganbayan. It was filed by Ombudsman prosecutors last March 23.

Argosino and Robles were accused of demanding a P50-million pay-off from Lam on Nov. 27, 2016, in exchange for the release of 1,316 Chinese nationals who worked for him without the proper visas.

The two officials, as well as Sombero, were charged with the nonbailable offense of plunder, appeasing senators who worried that the loss of a measly P1,000 from the recovered money would prevent the case from reaching the P50-million threshold required for their conviction.

Prosecutors would instead rely on the testimonies of Lam’s business associates, Norman Ng and Alex Yu, who said the BI officials really received P50 million.

Robles himself admitted that “they took possession of all five bags containing the P50M,” the Ombudsman noted in its Oct. 23, 2017 resolution that directed the filing of the charges.