Wally Sombero back in PHL to face Senate probe on BI bribery mess

Retired police official Wally Sombero returned to the country on Tuesday, two days before his expected appearance at the Senate investigation on the P50-million bribery controversy hounding the Bureau of Immigration (BI).

Sombero arrived in Manila from Vancouver, Canada at 8:50 a.m. on board a Philippine Airlines flight, Justice Undersecretary Erickson Balmes said.

LOOK: Wally Sombero, isa sa mga dawit sa Bureau of Immigration bribery scandal, dumating na sa bansa. | via Mao dela Cruz @dzbb pic.twitter.com/IyvXn8Nnh7

— GMA News (@gmanews) February 14, 2017

Retired police official Wally Sombero has returned to the PHL to face Senate hearing on Thursday on BI bribery scandal. ????: BI | @virgillopez pic.twitter.com/XeulDlrkTH

— GMA News (@gmanews) February 14, 2017

He previously told the Senate that he has received threats to his life if he appears in the legislative inquiry.

Sombero, however, promised to show up in the next hearing on Thursday as Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II directed the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) on Monday to provide stand-by agents in case the retired police official requests for protective custody. 

Prior to Sombero's arrival, the Senate blue ribbon committee had threatened to cite him in contempt and have his passport canceled after missing the third hearing on February 9.

Sombero cited poor health for his absence.

In a letter to the committee, the retired police official said that he was about to board a flight from Vancouver on February 6 only to be prevented by airport personnel due to sweating and shortness of breath. 

He also failed to appear during the January 23 and 31 hearings because he reportedly had to go to Singapore for medical check up.

In last week's hearing, senators found out that Sombero was allowed to leave the Philippines on January 17 despite being under the immigration lookout bulletin. 

The BI explained Sombero's passport name was Wenceslao and not Wally which appeared on the lookout bulletin order issued by Aguirre last December. 

Sombero, an alleged middleman of Lam, has accused dismissed Immigration deputy commissioners Al Argosino and Michael Robles of extorting P50 million from the gaming tycoon in exchange for the release of illegal Chinese workers at Lam's casino and leisure park in Clark, Pampanga. 

Argosino and Robles have repeatedly denied the allegations and said they accepted the money as part of their investigation on Lam's alleged human trafficking activities. —KG/ALG, GMA News