Senators find holes in probe on alleged bribery by Jack Lam

THE SENATE started yesterday its probe on the Bureau of Immigration (BI) bribery scandal, in which two former associate commissioners and the Secretary of Justice himself were alleged to have been bribed by casino mogul Jack Lam for the release of Chinese nationals illegally employed in his establishment.

Justice Secretary Vitaliano N. Aguirre II, BI Commissioner Jaime H. Morente, former BI Associate Commissioners Michael B. Robles and Al C. Argosino, and former BI Executive Assistant Charles T. Calima, Jr. attended as resource persons, as well as representatives of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (PAGCOR) and establishments City of Dreams and Shangri-La the Fort.

Retired police senior superintendent Wenceslao “Wally” A. Sombero, who allegedly tried to bribe Messrs. Aguirre, Argosino and Robles, was likewise invited but according to his counsel is currently in Singapore for a medical procedure. The government issued a lookout order on Mr. Sombero on Dec. 16 2016 but only listed his name as “Wally Sombero.”

Mr. Aguirre testified to his meeting with Mr. Lam at the Shangri-La, Bonifacio Global City on Nov. 26 with two interpreters and Mr. Sombero.

“Mr. Sombero called me and asked for a meeting, he told me that Mr. Jack Lam wanted to meet me in order to address the problem of the arraigned and the grievances of all those detained,” Mr. Aguirre told the committee, pertaining to the 1,316 Chinese nationals working without permit at Mr. Lam’s Fontana leisure park. “So I agreed to meet him [on] Nov. 26 at the BGC Shangrila.”

“Associate Commissioner Al Argosino asked me if he can join us and I agreed.”

He met Mr. Lam, his two interpreters, and Mr. Sombero in a room that they rented as an event by the San Beda College of which he and President Rodrigo R. Duterte are alumni would be conducted in the same hotel that night. Their meeting ended at 5:00 p.m.

Mr. Aguirre said that before he left the room, Mr. Sombero told him: “Matagal nang walang nag-aalaga kay Jack Lam. Pwede bang ang Secretary of Justice ang maging ninong ni Jack Lam (It’s been a long time since someone took care of Jack Lam. Can the Secretary of the Justice be the godfather/ protector of Jack Lam)?”

“I knew what he meant by that, that he was trying to bribe me,” Mr. Aguirre added. “I rejected it.”

Mr. Argosino for his part said: “It was my first time at the City of Dreams, I went there because I wanted to help the arrested Chinese citizens.”

“I arrived there early at 9:30 p.m. and then I told Atty. Robles that I was there.” Mr. Robles arrived after him at Erwin’s Gastrobar. At around 10:45 p.m. Mr. Sombero met with them.

“We talked for a while, then he suddenly left us and at around 11:45 he arrived with two bags,” said the former associate commissioner. He also recalled Mr. Sombero leaving them and returning with three bags at 5:00 a.m.

Messrs. Robles and Argosino took the bags home with them, which contained the alleged P50 million they were bribed with. The two men claimed they took the money as evidence of bribery.

Mr. Calima relayed his side of the story and how he had reported to Mr. Morente that he had returned the P18 million that was allegedly his cut in the P50 million Lam bribe.

The BI intelligence chief had already filed raps against Messrs. Argosino and Robles, alleging that they had extorted money from Mr. Sombero.

“On Nov. 30, Wally reported to me on a extortion activity and he would set up an entrapment operation,” Mr. Calima said. “He briefed me on the P50- million transaction.”

“[ What happened] was a part of our counter-intelligence measures,” the sacked BI intelligence officer said.

Mr. Calima did not report the information to Mr. Aguirre, and said: “I am under Gen. Morente, not directly under the Secretary of Justice.”

In an ambush interview after the proceedings, Senate blue ribbon committee chair Richard J. Gordon told reporters that he had already thought of examples of legislation that could be developed from these inquiries.

“We will look at the protocolar duties of the BI, second there should be an increase of manpower in the bureau especially because of this influx of Chinese tourists, it seems that we were lax since these tourists became illegally employed laborers,” Mr. Gordon said.

He added that Mr. Aguirre should return to fill in the gaps between testimonies and to further explain his side.

Senator Leila M. de Lima, in a separate interview, told reporters that it’s too early to tell who among the resource persons are telling the truth.

“We still have plenty to ask them, so it would be premature to say who among them are telling the truth,” she said.

She found the meeting between Messrs. Aguirre, Argosino, Sombero and Lam at the Shangri-La hotel questionable. “The Secretary of Justice, and officials at the DoJ and BI shouldn’t be talking to people facing cases. If they’re really determined to remedy the problem of the 1,316 Chinese nationals under their custody, they should have met at the BI [office].”

Senator Antonio F. Trillaines IV said it was clear that Mr. Aguirre and the other BI officials were conducting a shakedown operation against Mr. Lam.

“No matter how much Sec. Aguirre tries to spin his story, why would he even meet with Mr. Lam in the first place,” Mr. Trillanes told reporters. “It’s a clear shakedown operation that just happened to be exposed.”

“On the part of Messrs. Sombero and Lam, why would they waste P50 million if they weren’t confident with the conversation they had with the Justice Secretary at Shangri-la,” he added.

Mr. Trillanes hinted that more witnesses could be invited for the subsequent inquiries.

“There are a lot of witnesses approaching us, we’re currently verifying the information they give us,” Mr. Trillanes said. “We’re still making sure that they’re credible that’s why we’re still not saying who they are.”

For his part, Senate committee on labor chair Joel T. Villanueva is considering filing contempt charges against Mr. Argosino for not disclosing that he had already received P50 million from Mr. Lam when he was invited as a resource person during the probe on the presence of illegal foreign workers, particularly in Fontana, on Dec. 11.

“I would like to manifest my absolute disgust at what he did and we are contemplating and exploring our options, such as considering filing contempt charges against him,” Mr. Villanueva said in his opening statement for the inquiry. “This representation believes that he is liable of perjury for having provided false statements through withholding information from the Senate.”

The next inquiry is tentatively scheduled for Feb. 7.

A subpoena was issued for Mr. Sombero to attend the inquiry, while the Senate will look into its records for the inquiry conducted by the Senate committee on justice on Mr. Lam in 2008.

Messrs. Robles, Argosino, Calima, Morente, Aguirre and Sombero were ordered to submit their affidavits for clarity of narrative and details.