BI has records of Arroyo leaving the country; De Lima apologizes

(Editors’ note: Fixes airline in 3rd graf as Cathay Pacific Airlines, not China Airlines)

MANILA, Philippines—Bureau of Immigration spokesperson Ma. Antonette Bucasas-Mangrobang said Friday that contrary to reports, the agency had records of former First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo leaving the country on July 31 at 4:28 p.m.

However, Mangrobang said, the encoder at the immigration counter at Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal, erroneously recorded Arroyo’s surname with a single “r.”

“The reason why there was negative verification in the beginning was that there was a mistake in the encoding of the name by the officer who attended to him. Instead of double ‘r’, what’s encoded was single ‘r.’ So when it (Arroyo’s trip) was verified [on Thursday], it yielded negative result. But we verified with the flight manifest of the airlines and we confirmed he boarded Cathay Pacific Airlines flight CX-918,” she told reporters.

As this developed,  Justice Secretary Leila De Lima on Friday apologized to Mr. Arroyo for the “lapses in information.’’

“I humbly apologize in behalf of the Bureau of Immigration for the lapses of information yesterday (Thursday),” De Lima said in a text message sent to reporters.

“The BI tried to verify further and based on manifestation and boarding pass, it was confirmed that he [Mr. Arroyo] left through a commercial flight [bound for HongKong],” De Lima said.

Upon verification, the former first gentleman’s surname was misspelled “Aroyo” causing the BI to have difficulty looking for his travel record.

Mangrobang withheld the name of the immigration employee, saying the latter was already being investigated and ordered to explain in writing the reason behind the erroneous spelling of the name.

“There has been an order by Justice Secretary Leila de Lima to investigate, so the report would be given to her,” he added.

She said the “usual” procedure at the BI is for the erring employee to be given 72 hours to explain.

As for the sanction that might be imposed on the immigration employee, Mangrobang said, “There is an appropriate [penalty] based on whatever explanation that he would make. Our administrative division will make the appropriate assessment and if found that there has been negligence or administrative offense, he would go to through the process. As of now, he has been ordered to explain.”

Mangrobang also allayed fears of the Arroyo camp that Arroyo’s right to travel was being violated.

“To be candid about it, there’s no reason for him not to be allowed to leave because at that time (July 31), there was no watchlist order issued against him. So he could really depart from the country,” he said.

Asked if such misspelling incidents are frequent at the airport, Mangrobang replied, “I cannot say that it is a common mistake but it happens. This is not an isolated case. That is why when there are incidents such as this they (immigration employees) are made to explain the error.”