MANILA, Philippines — The Bureau of Immigration on Friday afternoon allowed American R&B artist Chris Brown to leave the country after being stuck in Manila for two days due to a fraud complaint against him.
BI Commissioner Siegfred Mison said the agency has given the go signal for Brown after he obtained a document clearing him from the Department of Justice's lookout bulletin order, according to a report from the STAR.
BI spokesperson Elaine Tan, meanwhile, said in a radio report that Brown himself obtained the departure clearance at the bureau's extension office and not at the main office in downtown Manila where dozens of journalists were staking out.
She said the clearance was given after "verifying that Chris Brown has no other derogatory record apart from the (immigration lookout bulletin)" that was issued Wednesday.
"Departure formalities will be implemented by immigration officers at the airport," she added in a text message.
RELATED: Chris Brown barred from leaving Philippines
Journalists saw Brown and around 10 others boarding his private plane parked at an airport hangar, with one taking a selfie before going into the plane.
Brown and his promoter, John Michael Pio Roda, were barred from leaving the country on Wednesday due to a pending estafa case over failing to appear for New Year concert at Iglesia ni Cristo's Philippine Arena earlier this year.
Brown arrived in Manila this week for his first solo concert at the SM Mall of Asia on Tuesday.
He then appealed through Instagram videos to allow his departure and apologized to fans for canceling his scheduled concert in Hong Kong and Indonesia due to the incident in Manila.
Earlier Friday, Brown tweeted: "This is a very serious situation and someone needs to be held accountable for mixing my name up in all this"
"I've done nothing wrong," he added. - with reports from Evelyn Macairan and Teresa Cerojano, Associated Press