RETIRED police officer Wenceslao "Wally" Sombero Jr., Jack Lam's alleged middleman, will be arrested if he returns to the country for missing a hearing of the Senate on the Bureau of Immigration (BI) bribery scandal.
This was ordered by the committee's chairman, Senator Richard Gordon, after Sombero's failure to show up again on Thursday's probe.
The payoff is allegedly for the release of more than half of the 1,316 undocumented Chinese workers arrested by BI operatives at Lam's Fontana casino in Pampanga last year.
Sombero, who is now in Vancouver, Canada, sent a letter to the committee asking for understanding of his "medical condition."
Ted Contacto, Sombero's lawyer, said that his client was stopped by the Philippine Airlines staff from boarding his flight from Canada to Manila after his blood sugar spiked.
Gordon then asked Contacto to get in touch with Sombero and give the committee a definite answer on when he can testify in the Senate.
After Contacto's failure to give a definite feedback, Gordon ordered the immediate arrest of Sombero, insisting that he be incarcerated in the New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa City.
"I was just wondering why Sombero can speak to various media entities but cannot attend the Senate hearing," Gordon asked. (SunStar Philippines)