RP official in Saipan extortion case suspended

The Philippine Bureau of Immigration and Deportation has ordered the preventive suspension of a division chief implicated in the extortion charges made by four Saipan residents who were arrested for alleged practice of illegal recruitment and promotion of prostitution last March, according to a report on the Philippine newspaper Today.

The report, which came out yesterday, said that Immigration Commissioner Alipio Fernandez Jr. had suspended lawyer Eleuterio Balina of the law and investigation division after he was administratively charged for allegedly extorting money from the four Saipan residents.

Fernandez reportedly issued the order Monday, placing Balina on preventive suspension for 90 days on the recommendation of the fact-finding committee that was formed to probe the alleged extortion incident.

The report said that Balina was charged with grave misconduct and conduct prejudicial to the interest of the service after the committee reportedly found prima facie evidence that he demanded and received more than P800,000 from the deportees on the promise he would work for their release.

According to the Today report, Fernandez noted that Balina’s suspension was only preventive in nature as the charges against him will still be the subject of a formal investigation by the bureau’s administrative division.

Fernandez was quoted as saying that Balina will be given all the opportunity to defend himself with or without the assistance of a lawyer during the hearing and investigation of the case.

Felino Quirante, the bureau’s administrative chief and chairman of the fact-finding body, said that other immigration employees might still be charged and suspended in connection with the incident as the investigation progresses.

The charge sheet against Balina alleged that last March 31, he and a travel agent, identified as Fe Banzuela, conspired to extort and receive P620,000 from the four alien detainees in exchange for facilitating their immediate release and voluntary deportation.

It was further alleged that the following day, the duo again demanded and received P200,000 as escort fees from the complainants and after several days got another P28,000 as payment for securing the derogatory clearances required for the alien’s deportation.

Fernandez said he ordered the investigation after Sen. Pete Reyes of the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands, who is a brother of one of the deportees, delivered a privileged speech on Tinian last April exposing the alleged extortion incident.

The four deportees alleged that Balina and Banzuela warned them not to negotiate with anybody else in the bureau, lest they face more serious charges that could delay their deportation.

The deportees—Eugenio Borja, David Cepeda, Jesus Lizama and Brian Reyes, who are holders of U.S. passports—were arrested by bureau agents for allegedly recruiting Filipina women to work as entertainers in Saipan without the required work permits.

Last week, Sen. Reyes urged fellow senators to meet with Philippine BID officials for a full-scale probe on the alleged extortion activities.

Sen. Reyes also urged that the four individuals be exonerated from all charges lodged against them, including illegal recruitment and promoting prostitution.