Actor Robin Padilla says Bureau of Immigration prevented him from leaving PH, department says no hold order

Filipino Actor Robin Padilla was recently stopped from leaving the country, preventing him from attending an event in China, the actor claimed in an Instagram post Sunday.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BY1_I0Bn9A0/?taken-by=robinhoodpadilla

He explained in his caption that he was invited by the princess of the sultanate of Sulu to attend a celebration of the sultanate’s historic relations with China.

“In some unexplained events, I was not allowed to leave the country because I have a hold order from the bureau of immigration,” Padilla said.

In 1994, the actor was convicted of illegal possession of firearms but was released three years later after being given a conditional pardon by then-Philippine President Fidel Ramos.

Last November, President Rodrigo Duterte granted Padilla, who had supported his campaign for the presidency, an absolute pardon.

In his Instagram post, the actor said that he had previously been able to leave the country even when he was only under conditional pardon. He then suggested that a possible reason for the hold order is his dragon tattoo.

“I don’t have any new cases in court, I don’t see any reason other than my dragon tattoo… maybe they think I too am part of a triad,” Padilla said.

He was referring to Senator Antonio Trillanes IV’s line of questioning during last week’s senate probe of presidential son and Davao City Vice Mayor Paolo Duterte.

During the trial, Trillanes insinuated that Paolo had a dragon tattoo on his back, supposedly signaling that he is part of a triad.

Yesterday, the Bureau of Immigration (BI) said that they did not issue a hold departure order on Padilla.

Inquirer.net reported that according to BI spokesperson Maria Antonette Mangrobang, all hold departure orders against Padilla were lifted on Aug. 3, 1993 and Jul. 25, 1995.

She added that there are no records showing that Padilla went through immigration in the past seven days.

In an Instagram photo posted today, Padilla said: “I’m not insisting that I be considered a new person because I am a proud ex-convict.”

https://www.instagram.com/p/BY67U0mHxjV/?hl=en&taken-by=robinhoodpadilla