MANILA, Philippines - Six of the 38 people charged with plunder and malversation of public funds before the Office of the Ombudsman in connection with the pork barrel scam are no longer in the country, the Bureau of Immigration (BI) said yesterday.
BI spokesperson Ma. Angelica Pedro said Technology Resource Center (TRC) director general Dennis Cunanan, former TRC director general Antonio Ortiz, and former Agusan del Sur Rep. Rodolfo Plaza left the country early this month based on BI records.
Jessica Lucila “Gigi†Reyes, former chief of staff of Senate Minority Leader Juan Ponce Enrile, and Ruby Chan Tuason, who had reportedly acted as a “conduit†to Enrile and Sen. Jinggoy Estrada, left the country last August, according to BI.
Nemesio Pablo Jr. of the Agri and Economic Program for Farmers Foundation Inc. has reportedly been out of the country since May 2010.
A BI source said Reyes left for Macau last Aug. 31 on a Cebu Pacific flight.
Plaza had served as Agusan del Sur congressman from 2001 to 2010. A source said Plaza flew to Hong Kong on Cebu Pacific flight 5J108 last Sept. 11.
Tuason left the country for Hong Kong on Cathay Pacific Flight CX 906 last Aug. 26.
BI also announced its issuance of Immigration Lookout Bulletin Order (ILBO) against 35 of the 38 respondents in the plunder and malversation cases.
Not on the list were Enrile, Estrada, and Sen. Ramon Revilla Jr. There was no immediate explanation for their not being on the list.
While they were believed to have already left the country, Plaza, Pablo, Reyes, Cunanan, and Tuason were still included in the list.
The list includes alleged pork barrel scam mastermind businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles, former congresswoman and now Masbate Gov. Rizalina Seachon-Lanete, former congressmen Edgar Valdez (Apec Party List), Samuel Dangwa (Benguet), and Constantino Jaraula (Cagayan de Oro).
The list also covers Richard Cambe, Pauline Labayen, Jose Sumalpong, Jeanette dela Cruz, Carlos Lozada, Erwin Dangwa, Alan Javellana, Gondelina Amata, Salvador Salacup, Jocelyn Piorato, Mylene Encarnacion, John Raymund de Asis, Evelyn Deleon, Ronald John Lim, Victor Cacal, Romulo Revelo, Ma. Ninez Guanizo, Julie Johnson, Rhodora Mendoza, Alexis Sevidal, Sofia Cruz, Chila Jalandoni, Francisco Figura, and Marivic Jover.
Meanwhile, a lawyer for the whistle-blowers in the pork barrel scam is seeking preventive suspension for officials implicated in the case.
“Those sitting appointive officials implicated in the complaint should also be preventively suspended to prevent them from influencing witnesses within their departments and from tampering with any other evidence,†lawyer Lourdes Benipayo told The STAR in a text message.
Benipayo said she welcomed BI’s issuance of ILBO on 35 of the respondents. – With Aie Balagtas-See