THE senators hearing the bribery case at the Bureau of Immigration are considering citing in contempt Wenceslao Sombero, a former police officer and the alleged representative of casino owner Jack Lam if he continues ignoring the Senate invitation to attend the hearings.
They made the threat even as former Immigration associate commissioner Al Argosino on Thursday admitted to the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee that he had been suspended from the practice of law.
During the hearing into the alleged P50-million bribery scandal involving Immigration officials, Senator Richard Gordon, who heads the committee, asked Argosino if the report of his suspension was true.
Argosino said he had already filed a motion for reconsideration.
Gordon scolded him for not directly answering his question.
Sombero, who flew to Canada amid the ongoing probe, is accused of handing P50 million to Immigration deputy commissioners Argosino and Michael Robles in exchange for the release of over 1,300 workers arrested November at Lam’s online casino.
“When this hearing is finished and there is no report from Mr. Jack Lam, I will order and recommend that contempt be leveled against Mr. Sombero and that when he comes back, he be immediately arrested from the airport and incarcerated in Muntinlupa until he comes around,” Gordon said.
Senator Joel Villanueva seconded Gordon, saying Sombero must be cited for contempt “for continuously avoiding our invitation.”
“I am aware that the motion has been prepared and we still continue to submit to the wisdom of the chair,” he said.
During the hearing Wednesday, Gordon also castigated some immigration officials led by Commissioner Jaime Morente for allowing Sombero to leave the Philippines and go to Canada last month despite being the subject of a lookout bulletin issued by the Department of Justice.
Morente said he was informed by personnel from the bureau’s Port Operations Division that a certain “Wenceslao Sombero” left the Philippines hours after he boarded his flight.
The lookout bulletin identified the ex-police official only as Wally Sombero, the immigration official said.
Sombero’s legal counsel Ted Contacto presented a letter from his client saying that he could not attend the hearing because he was not allowed to board a Philippine Airlines flight from Vancouver on Feb. 6 because his blood sugar shot up to 450.
The letter also said Sombero was advised to see a physician before going back to the Philippines.
Meanwhile, Senator Paolo Aquino said he found a major inconsistency in the statement of Argosinos during the Senate Blue Ribbon committee hearing.
Initially, Argosino testified that he only informed Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre about the P50-million bribe money on Dec. 13.
Upon questioning, it was discovered that Argosino had already discussed the bribery incident with Aguirre on Dec. 9 but he didn’t mention the amount and that the money was in his possession.
Argosino admitted that it was only on Dec. 13 when he informed Aguirre about the P50 million he received from Lam.
Aguirre confirmed Argosino’s statement, saying that on the night of Dec. 9 they were not talking about money but only about the supposed bribery.
The Department of Justice initially conducted the probe of the involvement of some personnel of the Bureau of Immigration who allegedly aided more than 70 out of the 1,316 arrested undocumented Chinese nationals in illegal online casinos at the Clark Freeport in Pampanga.
Aguirre ordered Immigration to find out the circumstances behind the escape and possible liability of personnel who had custody of the illegal workers arrested on Nov. 25.
Aguirre said there was no actual bribery attempt on him by Lam. He recalled Sombero only informed him that Lam had no “caretaker” for a long time and asked him if he could be the tycoon’s “godfather.”
“It was only a perception [of bribery]. Before you can accuse someone, there should be an overt act of bribery. There was none so we cannot investigate or charge them,” Aguirre said. With PNA
