JUSTICE Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II is mulling to recommend to Malacanang an "overhaul" in the Bureau of Immigration (BI) after some officials attempted to extort millions from gaming tycoon Jack Lam.
In a chance interview in the Department of Justice (DOJ) Monday, Aguirre said he will recommend to President Rodrigo Duterte the reshuffling of all the officials and employees in the BI.
Aguirre said only Duterte can reshuffle the employees and appoint new officials to the bureau to replace the commissioners who were terminated from their positions.
Duterte last week granted the recommendation of Aguirre to dismiss Associate Commissioners Al Argosino and Michael Robles.
Argosino and Robles are now being investigated for allegedly extorting P50 million from Lam through his associate, former police official Wally Sombrero, in exchange for the release of 600 out of the 1,316 undocumented Chinese arrested in Clark, Pampanga.
Aside from the two, also terminated are former BI Intelligence Officer Charles Calima and Technical Assistance for Intelligence Police Superintendent Edward Chan.
In a Department Order issued last week, the DOJ directed Immigration Officer IV Jose Carlitos Licas to replace Robles while BI Board of Special Inquiry Attorney IV Estanislao Canta was asked to replace Argosino.
The anomalies in the BI relative to the arrest of the Chinese nationals working at Lam's online gaming operations in Fontana Leisure Park in Pampanga are now being investigated by the BI, the ParaƱaque City Prosecutors' Office, and the National Bureau of Investigation. (Sunnex)