MANILA – Senator Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito and five others are barred from leaving the country.
This, after the Bureau of Immigration (BI) has implemented the hold departure order (HDO) issued against them by the Sandiganbayan.
Aside from Ejercito, the other people who are not allowed to leave the country are: former San Juan city administrator Ranulfo Decals, treasurer Rosalinda Marasigan, city attorney Romualdo de los Santos, city budget officer Lorenza Ching, and city engineer Danilo Mercado.
According to BI spokesperson Nikki Reyes, BI Associate Commissioner Abdullah Mangotara signed the orderimplementing the HDO.
On Monday, the the Anti-Graft Court issued the HDO and the BI only received a copy and implemented the order only on Tuesday.
Reyes added that their names would be uploaded in the bureau’s HDO list so that they can be stopped, in case they would attempt to pass through the Immigration counters at the international seaports and airports in order to leave the country.
The Sandiganbayan issued the order against Ejercito in connection to a graft case filed by the Office of the Ombudsman against them last week.
Ejercito and 19 other former and incumbent officials of San Juan were charged for their alleged involvement in using calamity funds to purchase Php 2.1 million worth of high-powered firearms in year 2008, when the senator was still mayor of the city.