Blue Ribbon wants Sombero’s passport cancelled for snubbing Senate probe
The Senate Blue Ribbon Committee will recommend to the Senate leadership that retired police general Wenceslao “Wally” Sombero be cited for contempt for his repeated failure to appear before the panel investigating the
150-million bribery scandal involving Chinese gambling tycoon Jack Lam.
Gordon also asked the Department of Justice (DOJ) to ask the Department of Foreign Affairs to cancel Sombero’s passport to compel him to return to the country immediately and face the Senate probe.
“I’ll have him arrested. He’s
now cited for contempt. And I’m asking that his passport be cancelled. He’s trying to fool us,” said a fuming Sen. Richard Gordon, the Blue Ribbon Committee chair.
Gordon said he would likewise recommend to Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III that Sombero be cited for contempt for continually evading the Senate inquiry.
“We will send him to Muntinlupa and there’s precedent for that. And he is under contempt already for all intents and purposes if he doesn’t come back,” he stressed.
It was Sen. Leila de Lima who moved that Sombero be cited for contempt but Gordon deferred it after instructing his lawyer to produce a medical certificate within two hours. The lawyer claimed Sombero is in Canada for medical reasons.
In a statement read by his lawyer during the hearing, Sombero said he cannot attend the February 9 Senate hearing as airport officials in Vancouver denied his request to board a flight back to Manila because of his health condition.
“The airport authority and the PAL representative/supervisor refused to board me due to the sweating and shortness of breath that I was feeling while I was about to board the flight,” Sombero said in his letter to Gordon.
“Upon checking by the Airport 911 paramedics, it was confirmed that my sugar shot up to 450. I was supposed to be brought to Richmond General Hospital but I insisted to board the next available flight back to the Philippines. However, I was first told to see a cardiologist before being given clearance for rebooking,” he added.
But his excuses did not sit well with the panel chair. “For all intents and purposes, he is being cited for contempt. But I will have it cleared first with the Senate President since he is the only one who can issue a contempt order,” Gordon said.
Severe disciplinary action
Following the bribery scandal that involved two Immigration commissioners, Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II placed Sombero under the immigration look out bulletin. But despite the lookout order, Sombero was allowed to leave the country last January 17.
Gordon demanded severe disciplinary action against immigration officials who allowed Sombero to leave.
Gordon directed the Justice Secretary and Immigration chief Jaime H. Morente to bring BI supervisor Melba Lopez to the next committee hearing on Thursday to explain why she allowed Wenceslao ‘’Wally’’ A. Sombero Jr. to leave the country.
Sombero, allegedly acting as middleman of online gaming tycoon Jack Lam, allegedly gave 150 million cash contained in five bags to Immigration commissioners Michael B. Robles and Al C. Argosino following the arrest of 1,300 illegal Chinese workers at a casino resort owned by Lam, a Chinese national.
According to Morente, Lopez allowed Sombero to leave because “Wally Sombero,” the name of the passport holder, was not in the BI computer.
The lookout bulletin listed the name “Wenceslao Sombero.”
Gordon said the public perception is that the BI personnel at the NAIA had been bribed into allowing Sombero, a retired police superintendent and a former immigration lecturer, to depart for Singapore.
The “lapses” or “oversight’’ by the BI is making the Philippines the laughing stock of the world.
The statement of Mark Marinas, BI port operations chief, admitting to lapses in the BI departure procedures prompted Gordon to fire back: “It is unmitigated diarrhea… Lopez should be fired.”
Marinas said he learned of Sombero’s departure two hours after he left and had the incident investigated.