Sombero: Lookout bulletin doesn't require me to seek permission to leave PHL

Retired police official Wally Sombero said Tuesday he did not have to seek the approval of Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II to travel abroad.

Sombero's absence from the previous Senate Blue Ribbon Committee hearings on the Bureau of Immigration (BI) P50-million bribery scandal has been criticized by some senators after it was revealed that he had left the country last month.

Sombero left the country despite being under the Department of Justice's (DOJ) immigration lookout bulletin order (ILBO).

In a chance interview upon his arrival from Canada, Sombero said the lookout bulletin only instructed him to inform the DOJ about his travel plans, which he did by writing a letter to Aguirre on January 16.

Sombero left for Singapore the next day, January 17, supposedly to seek treatment for a medical illness.

"Ang nakalagay sa ILBO, 'di naman kailangang payagan ka. Magpaalam ka. Ipaalam mo, i-signify mo yung iyong plano ng pag-alis," he told reporters.

The BI had allowed him to leave because the lookout bulletin identified the former police officer as Wally Sombero instead of Wenceslao Sombero, his passport name.

The DOJ started issuing lookout bulletins (LBOs) in late 2011, following a restraining order from the Supreme Court that barred the agency from issuing watch list orders.

An LBO differs from a court-issued hold departure order or a DOJ-issued watch list order as its purpose is just to monitor and not necessarily to prevent an individual from leaving the country.

Left without permission

Aguirre, however, insisted in a separate chance interview that Sombero should have secured a permission from his office before leaving the country.

He said Sombero failed to secure an allow departure order, similar to what he issued in December 2016 when Senator Leila de Lima traveled to the United States and Germany for various engagements.

De Lima is facing drug complaints at the DOJ in relation to the illegal drug trade inside the New Bilibid Prison.

"Ang kaibahan nun kasi nung kay De Lima sumulat din. I expressly permitted her to leave by making an allow departure order. Sa panahon ni Sombero wala akong in-issue kasi hindi ko pinayagan," Aguirre said.

Sombero is expected to appear in the fourth Senate hearing on Thursday to shed light on his accusation that two dismissed BI officials Al Argsino and Michael Robles had extorted P50 million in exchange for the release of illegal Chinese workers at a casino and leisure park in Clark, Pampanga owned by gaming tycoon Jack Lam. —ALG, GMA News