Chris Brown barred from leaving PHL

By MARK MERUEÑAS, GMA News

Published July 22, 2015 4:17pm

(Updated 4:44 p.m.) American singer Chris Brown has been placed under the Philippine government's immigration lookout bulletin, hours before his solo concert at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima on Wednesday confirmed to reporters that she has issued a lookout bulletin order (LBO) against Brown.

The 26-year-old R&B singer arrived in Manila Tuesday for a concert at the SM MOA Arena.

The LBO stemmed from a letter from Glicerio Santos IV, chief legal counsel of Iglesia Ni Cristo and chief operating officer of the Maligaya Development Corp. (MDC) requesting assistance from the Department of Justice "for the successful prosecution of the criminal complaint which MDC is lodging."

The MDC wanted Brown, who is Christopher Maurice Brown in real life, charged with estafa over his failure to appear in the INC's New Year's event concert on December 31 last year at the Philippine Arena.

Apart from Brown, also being accused of estafa under Article 315 of the Revised Penal Code was a certain John Michael Pio Rada.

"After being paid for both their services, Mr. Brown failed to appear and perform at the concert, to the damage and prejudice of MDC," read the letter to De Lima.

"We woud appreciate any assistance you can provide to us to protect the interest of MDC, and ultimately to serve as an example to producers and talents who employ such fraudulent schemes to obtain money from lefitimate businesses in the country," read the letter.

Brown was supposed to leave the Philippines Wednesday afternoon, but he was barred by airport authorities pending a clearance from the DOJ.

Clarification

Immigration spokesman Elaine Tan clarified Brown was not necessarily being restricted from leaving the Philippines, saying an LBO is not like a hold departure order.

However, Brown first needs to secure an Emigration Clearance Certificate (ECC), she said in a press release.

"As the name suggests, the order merely directs the BI to be on the 'lookout' and take prudent steps to verify on the status of the criminal case against the subjects. If the concerned agency raises no objection to the departure, then we will allow the subject to leave," said Tan.

For foreign nationals, the ILB requires subjects to obtain the ECC, pursuant to Section 22-A of the Philippine Immigration Act, to ensure that the foreign national has no pending obligations in the Philippines.

Tan added that as of posting time, "there was no attempt to depart on the part of any of the subjects (of the LBO)."

— ALG/NB, GMA News

- Renee Fopalan with photos from Karen De La Fuente/FRJ, GMA News

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