Ten more Chinese nationals who escaped after getting arrested for illegally operating an online gaming inside a casino in Clark, Pampanga have returned to government custody.
Lawyer Ma. Antonette Mangroband, Bureau of Immigration spokesperson, said that as of yesterday only 16 of the 57 Chinese who left their holding facility at the convention center of the Club Fontana Hotel were still unaccounted.
“We are therefore appealing to these 16 Chinese to return to our custody so that their cases can be resolved with dispatch in the ongoing deportation proceedings,” Mangrobang said.
She added that those who returned gave the same reasons for their escape: they could not withstand the conditions in the holding facility and that they wanted to return to the comfort of their villas, take a bath and sleep in their bedrooms.
Mangrobang said they also denied allegations that they bribed their guards to help them escape. Despite this, the investigating panel headed by lawyer Henry B. Tubban pursuant to the order of BI Commissioner Jaime Morente has started hearing the case.
The Chinese who remain at large were identified as Song Yun Zheng, Fang Qing Yong, Song Ye, Huang Jian Hui, Huang Zhen Zhi, Huang Long Bao, Zhao Di, Liu Moi Hui, Yu Chang Ung, Huang Wei Sen, Li Fei Yun, Cheng Rong Quan, Huang Yong Cheng, Huang Wei Bin, Chen Quean Qing, and Chen Han Xiang.
It was the Chinese embassy officials and their managers who persuaded the escapees to return to their holding facility.
It was learned that of the more than a thousand Chinese arrested during the Nov. 24 raid at the Fontana casino, 592 of them were already allowed to post bail by the BI.
Mangrobang said the Chinese were granted temporary freedom while the deportation cases against them are being heard by the BI board of commissioners.
She explained that the Board of Commissioners found that there are no indications that the 592 are a threat to public safety and their temporary liberty is consistent with BI’s objective of decongesting the temporary detention facility. (Jun Ramirez)
