MANILA, Philippines — The Bureau of Immigration (BI) is verifying whether the dozens of individuals accused with plunder and graft before the Sandiganbayan are still in the country, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said.
In a state news report, De Lima said that she is awaiting the bureau's report on the matter following the anti-graft court's release of hold departure orders earlier this week. BI is an agency under the Department of Justice.
Covered by the court order forbidding flight are principal plunder respondents Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile, Sen. Jose "Jinggoy" Estrada and Sen. Ramon "Bong" Revilla, Jr as well as their former aides Jessica "Gigi" Reyes, Pauline Labayen and Richard Cambe.
Businesswoman Janet Lim Napoles, who is behind bars for serious illegal detention, and her two children and brother are also included in the hold departure orders.
De Lima said that the BI has alerted on Tuesday all international airports and seaports to restrain individuals under the HDO as the issuance of arrest warrants are imminent.
Also read: Sandiganbayan bans Jinggoy from leaving country | Travel ban imposed on Enrile, Revilla, Gigi