16 illegal Chinese workers arrested in Clark ‘still at large’
TEN more Chinese nationals who left their holding facility at the convention center of the Club Fontana Hotel in Clark, Pampanga have returned to government custody, the Bureau of Immigration (BI) said on Tuesday.
With this, BI spokesperson Antonette Mangrobang called on the remaining 16 who are still unaccounted, as of December 6, to return to the bureau’s custody.
“We are therefore appealing to these 16 Chinese to return to our custody so that their cases can be
resolved with dispatch in the ongoing deportation proceedings,” she said in a statement.
The number is part of the 57 foreigners who escaped after getting arrested for illegally operating an online gaming business inside a casino in the said province late last month.
The Chinese who remain at large were identified as Song Yun Zheng, Fang Qing Yong, Song Ye, Huang Jian Hui, Huang Zhen Zhi, Huang Long Bao, Zhao Di, Liu Moi Hui, Yu Chang Ung, Huang Wei Sen, Li Fei Yun, Cheng Rong Quan, Huang Yong Cheng, Huang Wei Bin, Chen Quean Qing, and Chen Han Xiang.
The BI official noted that those who returned gave the same reasons for their escape: they could not withstand the conditions in the holding facility and that they wanted to return to the comfort of their villas, take a bath and sleep in their bedr ooms.
“All of them also denied allegations that they bribed their guards or gave money to anyone to help them escape,” Mangrobang added.
She reported that the Investigating Panel headed by Atty. Henry B. Tubban, pursuant to the order of Commissioner Jaime Morente, have convened on Tuesday.
Of the more than 1,000 Chinese arrested during the raid at the Fontana casino, 592 were already allowed to post bail.
Mangrobang said the Chinese were granted temporary freedom while the deportation cases against them are being heard by the BI board of commissioners.
She explained that the Board found that there are no indications that the 592 are a threat to public safety and their temporary liberty is consistent with bureau’s objective of decongesting the temporary detention facility. (FP/ Sunnex)