Aguirre axed acting intelligence chief Charles Calima and his assistant Edward Chan in the wake of a bribery scandal
Bureau of Immigration (BI) Acting Intelligence Intelligence head Charles Calima Jr. and his aide Edward Chan were dismissed by Department of Justice (DOJ) Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II in the wake of bribery controversy involving Macau-based gambling operator Jack Lam.
Aguirre axed Calima and Chan as part of a purge at the BI in the middle of the controversy following the discovery of an anomaly involving BI deputy Commissioners Al Argosino and Michael Robles.
Argosino and Robles were caught on camera video receiving payoffs amounting to P50 million from former Senior Supt. Wally Sombero, a representative of the gambling tycoon, in exchange for the release of 600 out of 1,316 Chinese workers who illegally stay in the Philippines.
The Chinese nationals were working at Lam’s Fontana Leisure Parks and Casino at Clark Freeport, Pampanga.
A day before Calima and Chan were kicked, Aguirre recommended to President Rodrigo Duterte to terminate Argosino and Robles for putting the Commission in hot water.
The Secretary of Justice, however, did not specify the reason for firing active police superintendent Chan and the former police senior superintendent in his termination letter.
Secretary Aguirre refused to make any prejudgment on who was answerable to the controversy because he would ultimately decide on the findings of the investigation carried out by the Immigration Bureau and National Bureau of Immigration (NBI).
But in a separate interview, the Cabinet member pointed out that he lost his trust and confidence in Calima and Chan for the alleged involvement in the P50 million bribery, based on the claim of Argosino and Robles that the agency’s intelligence head had recorded the transaction and blackmailed them for P18 million, taken from the total payoff.
Aguirre added that if the investigation later on would exonerate the sacked officials, they could apply to go back to the BI.
“In the meantime, because of the gravity of the accusations, we have to do this”, the Justice secretary stressed.