DOJ places British School Manila officials on lookout bulletin

The Department of Justice (DOJ) has issued an immigration lookout bulletin order (LBO) against executives of British School of Manila (BSM) in connection with the death of Liam Madamba, its 18-year-old student who committed suicide reportedly after being humiliated by his teacher over a “plagiarized” essay.

In a four-page order released on Monday, acting DOJ Secretary Emmanuel Caparas issued the LBO against 16 BSM officers, including school head Simon Mann.

The school officials are facing criminal and civil suits related to the suicide.

Through the LBO, airprt authorities will have to alert the DOJ for any attempts of the school officials to leave the country, during the course of the agency's preliminary investigation.

“Considering that the abovementioned individuals are the subject of an on-going investigation, and there is a strong possibility that they may attempt to place themselves beyond the reach of the legal processes of this department by leaving the country, the handling public prosecutor of the case has duly indorsed for the issuance of an Immigration Lookout Bulletin Order (ILBO) against the subject persons, in order to at least monitor the itineraries of their flight, travel, and/or whereabouts,” read the LBO.

Caparas instructed all immigration officers “to be on the lookout/alert for the (subject) individuals should they pass through the immigration counters in any of our international ports and/or seaports.”

The BI airport personnel were also directed to “obtain from the Office of the Prosecutor General the proper office or official to contact even outside office hours, in case any of the subject makes an attempt to leave the country.”

Apart from Mann, the other BSM officers covered by the LBO are Trevor Lewis, Brendan Egan, Martyn Turner, Bill Twedell, Simon Bewley, Etein Melsbo, Bart Edes, Pul Ingram, Alison Doig Henderson, Andrew Logan, Alan Hearn, Anne Haslam, David Gold, Angel Guerrero and Catherine Tantoco-Daniels.

The investigating prosecutor, Prosecution Attorney Ma. Caren Gail De Alban-Avila, has summoned the respondents to a hearing last January, but they did not appear and instead sought more time to answer the charges.

The complaints against them were filed in October last year by the victim's mother, Trixie Madamba, for violation of Presidential Decree (PD) No. 1829 or obstruction of justice.

Lian jumped from the sixth floor of a carpark in Makati City in February last year after he was accused by his teacher, Natalie Mann, of plagiarism.

Madamba alleged that the BSM administration “tampered and altered reports to conceal, if not to impede an exhaustive investigation of the facts surrounding Liam’s death” and “willfully harbored and facilitated the escape” of Mann.

Apart from the criminal complaint, Madamba had also earlier filed with the Department of Education an administrative complaint against the school for alleged violation of the child protection policies. The department had already asked BSM to comment on the complaint.

Madamba also filed in December last year a P100-million civil case against the school before the Taguig City Regional Trial Court. —NB, GMA News