ALARMED by the alleged Gestapo-like operation conducted by Bureau of Immigration (BI) agents Eduardo Silverio and Bernard Cruzata against a Korean couple, the Philippine consul to South Korea will meet the two tomorrow to get their side of the story.
Consul Augusto Go said he wants to know from Lee Dong Bum and Kim Sun A what really happened to prevent any similar incident in the future.
Go, who is also the president of the University of Cebu, was distraught by the alleged shabby treatment of the couple by the BI agents.
In Cebu, Korean nationals top the number of foreign tourists and businessmen.
Lee and Kim own a travel agency that also facilitates the enrollment of Koreans to English language schools here in Cebu City. They employ 250 Filipinos in various positions in their company.
Fears
Lee, in an earlier interview with Sun.Star Cebu, said they feared for their safety because the two BI agents were not the only ones conducting surveillance against them, but also some members of the military.
Ten minutes before Silverio and Cruzata barged into the office of the Korean couple at the PDI Condominium in Banilad, Cebu City last April 30 at 10:43 a.m., an armed man visited their residence at Garden Ridge Village and asked the nanny for the names, ages and whereabouts of the couple’s children.
Village security guard Gerry Almacen reported to village administrator Ernest Gabuya that the armed man was identified as Capt. George Borja, a member of the military, based on the identification card he presented when he entered the place.
Gathering proof
Lawyer Armando Consolacion, counsel of Lee and Kim, said his clients are bent on challenging this kind of treatment and scenario.
“We are just collating some evidence and we are trying to collect additional information to cement our claim that there was indeed something wrong. This wrong can be corrected if the proper procedure has followed,” Consolacion said.
He said that it’s up to the BI to try to correct the mission order (issued by Commissioner Marcelino Libanan) or any other order, whatever it is, to be implemented.
“Just like handling Filipinos. If you want to arrest somebody and if he is not resisting and he is not being a danger to you, give him courtesy and give him his rights and allow him to exercise his rights before you apprehend or capture him,” Consolacion said.
“It’s a basic human principle of respect to human rights,” the lawyer added. (EOB)
