Thursday, August 26, 2004 DOJ clears BI exec over release of suspected drug lord By Benjamin B. Pulta
A SENIOR immigration official accused of ordering the release of an undocumented Chinese national allegedly engaged in narco-trafficking has been cleared by the Department of Justice (DOJ) on mere technicalities.
In a one-page resolution, outgoing Justice Secretary Ma. Merceditas Gutierrez ordered Wednesday that the complaint filed by three immigration intelligence agents against Bureau of Immigration (BI) Associate Commissioner Teodoro B. Delarmente be "dismissed without prejudice."
Gutierrez noted that the complaint (against Delarmente) "is not under oath; attached documentary evidence are not certified true copies; and it does not contain a certification of non-forum shopping."
The requirements are contained in the uniform rules on administrative cases, she pointed out.
Gutierrez last month ordered BI Commissioner Alipio Fernandez to look into allegations involving Delarmante over a rift between him and BI officials belonging to the BI's intelligence department over the release of Chinese national Li Yong Cheng.
Delarmente reportedly ordered the release because of the "highly suspicious and irregular" operation the intelligence agents conducted against the Chinese with Delarmante pointing out that neither BI intelligence division chief lawyer Faizal Hussin nor his three agents, namely, Ansari Macaayan, Maclin Lanto and Andrian Mangondato, mentioned in their pre-operation report that Li was a suspected drug trafficker.
"They only stated in the report that Li was subject to verification for being a reported undocumented and illegally working alien," Delarmente said.
He added that Li's arrest was also illegal because the order the agents used was based on a memorandum order, not a mission order from Fernandez.
On the agents' "after-mission report", they stated last June 26 that they arrested Li in his electrical shop located along V. Serrano Street in Caloocan City based on a PNP report that the Chinese was operating an electrical supply shop, which he used as a front for illegal drug trafficking activities.
Li was taken on the same day to the BI intelligence office in Intramuros before Delarmente appeared and scolded the three agents for apprehending the alien before he ordered Li's release.
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