While public attention is largely focused on the recent arrest of former President Rodrigo Duterte and ongoing developments at the International Criminal Court (ICC), it is crucial that other pressing issues requiring immediate and full attention are not sidelined.
One such issue is the escape of South Korean national Na Ikhyeon, 28, from the custody of the Bureau of Immigration (BI) on March 4. The incident, captured on video, went viral and became a major source of embarrassment for the country, all under the watch of BI Commissioner Anthony Viado.
As a backgrounder, Na was intercepted in 2023 at the Clark International Airport in Angeles City, Pampanga before he could board a Cebu Pacific Airways flight to Hong Kong. He was nabbed after attempting to flee the country by passing himself as a Filipino, using a fraudulent Philippine passport under the name Rodingo Santos Chun.
Irregularities were noted on the appearance of the passport’s biopage, which could not be read when scanned by the computer, even as examination conducted by the BI’s forensic documents laboratory on the passport later revealed that the passport is indeed counterfeit.
Further suspicions arose when Na was unable to speak Filipino or any local dialect, prompting authorities to conduct a secondary inspection.
Upon surrendering his South Korean passport, authorities discovered it had been flagged in Interpol’s database as an invalidated travel document.
The Interpol National Central Bureau in Manila also confirmed that Na was wanted in South Korea for two fraud cases involving large sums of money. He allegedly misled fellow Koreans into investing in non-existent accounts, only for him and his associates to withdraw the investments for personal gain.
Na was scheduled for deportation to face trial in South Korea, but his deportation was put on hold due to an estafa case filed against him by a Filipina in the Quezon City Prosecutor’s Office. The complainant, a small jewelry business owner, alleged that Na acted as an agent for consigned jewelry but failed to remit the full sales amount despite multiple demands.
Na attended a hearing related to the said case on March 4, but was able to escape when he was allowed to use the court’s restroom.
Fortunately, the combined efforts of the BI’s Fugitive Search Unit, led by Rendel Ryan Sy, and the Intelligence Division, under Fortunato Manahan Jr., in coordination with the City Intelligence Unit, Police Station 4 Angeles, the Regional Special Operations Unit PRO 3, the PNP-Intelligence Group, and the Naval Intelligence and Security Group Northern Luzon, led to his successful rearrest.
While three BI employees involved in Na’s escape have been dismissed, bigger accountability is needed. Reports indicate that two of them were merely contractual workers. It raises serious questions about why personnel on limited contracts were entrusted with such a critical function beyond their pay grade.
This situation echoes the escape of dismissed Bamban Mayor Alice Guo in September last year, which ultimately led to the resignation of then-BI Commissioner Norman Tansingco and the appointment of Viado as his replacement.
However, months later, the BI under Viado still remains clueless about how Guo and her siblings, Shiela and Wesley, managed to flee the country to evade prosecution.
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Adding to these concerns is the feared resurgence of the notorious ‘tanim-bala’ scam at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).
There are growing reports of security personnel from the Office of Transport Security (OTS) allegedly engaging in this illicit scheme once again. This comes on the heels of another shameful scandal, in which an OTS officer was caught stealing $300 from a foreign traveler’s bag during security screening at NAIA Terminal 1.
While the personnel involved—many of whom were reportedly job order (JO) employees—have been removed from their posts, disciplinary action must not stop at the lower ranks.
The accountability for these lapses within both the BI and OTS should extend all the way up the chain of command, not just to frontliners. The same standard should apply to all government agencies. Only then will officials take their responsibilities seriously, knowing that their own positions are at stake.
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