Five airport personnel face criminal and administrative charges for allegedly helping a fugitive South Korean leave the country despite being on an immigration blacklist.
According to a Sun Star Online report, Augustus Caesar Morales, Roselle Sacendoncillo, Arvin Cesar Santos, Jing Oliver Balina, and Fernando Pedrajas will face graft and misconduct charges as recommended by a Department of Justice fact-finding report.
Park Jungsun, a South Korean wanted for fraud by the Busan District Court, was arrested in Incheon International Airport in March. Bureau of Immigration personnel had allowed him to board his flight despite being on an immigration blacklist and despite a request from South Korea that its government be alerted in case Park tries to leave Manila.
Sacendocillo has been accused of allowing Park to leave. She said she she did that under orders from Immigration supervisor Augustus Caesar Morales who sent her text messages telling her to stamp Park’s boarding pass. She said Morales paid her P10,000 for doing so.
Pedrajas, a member of the Office of Transportation Security, meanwhile brought Park through the departure hall and to the final x-ray examination area, the report said. Park’s departure was not recorded on the BI’s database, but he was listed on the Philippine Airlines flight’s manifest.
“Given the foregoing, it is clear that Morales, Sacendoncillo, and Pedrajas knew that Park was included in the blacklist, even prior to his actual departure. Morales even communicated to Sacendoncillo this fact. However, they deliberately facilitated the escape of Park, a fugitive, in consideration of a certain amount of money”, Sun Star said, quoting the DOJ report.
Morales, Sacendoncillo, and Pedrajas face charges of bribery, grave misconduct, and of violating the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Prcatices Act as wel as the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees.
Santos and Balina face charges of gross neglect of duty as well as graft.
Park’s escape angered President Benigno Aquino III who demanded a full report on the matter.
