Ex-Immigration chief gets 18 years for '11 Indians' fiasco

Former Immigration commissioner Zafiro Respicio was sentenced to 18 years' imprisonment for allowing the deportation of 11 Indian nationals facing drug-related charges 12 years ago. In a decision penned by Associate Justice Teresita Baldoz, the Sandiganbayan's fifth division found Respicio guilty of graft and falsification of public documents. "The anti-graft court sentenced Respicio to six to 12 years imprisonment for the graft charges and another six months to six years and one day imprisonment for the falsification charges," the Office of the Ombudsman, which pursued the charges against Respicio, said in a statement posted on its website (ombudsman.gov.ph). Respicio, who was Immigration commissioner under then President Fidel Ramos, was also perpetually disqualified from holding any public office, the Ombudsman statement said. But the graft court acquitted then associate immigration commissioners Bayani Subido Jr and Manuel Roxas, a retired police general, who were also charged. The case stemmed from the arrest of 11 Indian nationals in 1994 by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), which raided a drug laboratory in Las Piñas on July 4, 1994. While the Indian nationals were charged for violating the Dangerous Drugs Act of 1972, they filed individual requests for deportation with the BI. Respicio, Subido and Roxas signed the documents allowing their deportation during Respicio's birthday party. The graft court also dismissed a separate case against the late lawyer Arturo Figueras, then the NBI deputy director, who passed away while the case was being heard. "The NBI and the BI drew flak for the so-called '11 Little Indians' fiasco brought about by Respicio's actions," the Ombudsman said. On the other hand, special prosecutor Dennis Villa-Ignacio said the decision "should serve as a warning to government officials against the commission of graft as the long arm of the law will eventually catch up with them even after their separation from the service." - GMANews.TV