The deportation of controversial Chinese fugitive, Wang Bo, now looms.

This, after Secretary of Justice Leila M. De Lima, in a Resolution dated 04 August 2015, and released today, DENIED Wang Bo's Motion for Reconsideration of the earlier Resolution of 08 June 2015 which reversed and set aside the Bureau of Immigration Board of Commissioner's (BOC) 21 May 2015 Resolution, and accordingly reinstated the BOC's 05 March 2015 Summary Deportation Order (SDO).

It will be recalled that the BOC initially ordered the summary deportation of Wang Bo who is wanted in the People's Republic of China for gambling crimes and whose passport has been cancelled by the Chinese government. But, on a motion for reconsideration filed by Wang Bo through counsel, Atty. Dennis Manalo, more than a month after the issuance of the SDO, the BOC, voting unanimously, reversed itself. Subsequently, however, upon the protestations of the Chinese Embassy thru its Police Attaché, BI Commissioner Siegfred B. Mison prodded his colleagues in the BOC to reconsider their reversal of the SDO, but to no avail, prompting Commissioner Mison to elevate the matter to the Secretary of Justice via his 26 May 2015 Indorsement with accompanying Memorandum fromthe BI's Legal Division.

In her Resolution dated 08 June 2015, the Secretary of Justice reversed the BOC's 21 May 2015 Resolution and reinstated the 05 March 2015 SDO.

In disposing of the procedural grounds raised by Wang Bo in his Motion for Reconsideration, Secretary De Lima ruled that: (a) the Secretary of Justice possesses review powers or appellate jurisdiction over deportation cases pursuant to the SOJ's power of control and supervision over DOJ's constituent and attached agencies; (2) the BI's Legal Division, as the prosecutor in the deportation case vs. Wang Bo, has the personality and authority to question via appeal the BOC's 21 May 2015 Resolution; and (3) contrary to his assertion, Wang Bo has been amply heard in the deportation and appeal proceedings thru his pleadings filed with the BI, the Court of Appeals (in connection with the petition for habeas corpus) and his present Motion for Reconsideration with attachments.

On the substantive aspect of the case, the SOJ found no reason to reverse her 08 June 2015 Resolution, ruling that "the documents presented by the Chinese Embassy are sufficient basis to order the deportation of [Wang Bo]." The circumstance cited by Wang Bo that he has been travelling to and from China without being arrested is deemed "irrelevant to the case for being a matter internal to the People's Republic of China."

According to the Resolution: "What was considered here is the fact that the People's Republic of China had cancelled [Wang Bo's] passport and that he was, as well, declared a fugitive from the said country." (at p.8)

As a concluding statement, the SOJ's Resolution reads:

"The basic question that this Office had to contend with from the very beginning was this: between the official embassy representations of a foreign state such as China, on the one hand, and the mostly barefaced allegations of a wanted criminal evading capture from his country of nationality, on the other, what version of the narrative is to be believed?"

"Under no circumstances of the present case and under no provision of the Rules of Evidence can the answer to this question ever be favorable to [Wang Bo]."

In light of the denial of Wang Bo's MR, the SOJ also directed the immediate implementation of the BOC's Summary Deportation Order.

The SOJ is of the view that the investigation being undertaken by the NBI into the alleged bribery and corrupt activities involving Wang Bo can no longer serve as an obstacle to immediate deportation. The SOJ noted the NBI's findings in its Initial Report dated 13 July 2015, to wit:

"The team did not find any direct or indirect pieces of evidence pointing to pay-offs between the party of Bo Wang and any official/employee of the Bureau of Immigration. Neither did the team find any evidence to substantiate the allegations that BO WANG financed the passage of the Bangsa Moro Basic Law in the House of Repreentatives; nor was there any lead found to suggest the monetary contribution from the camp of BO WANG favoring the Liberal Party or any political party for that matter. Further, no iota of evidence was discovered that would give credence to the malicious allegation that BO WANG's camp contributed money for the senatorial campaign of the Honorable Secretary of Justice or any official for that matter. Nonetheless, few individuals interviewed insisted, without going on-record, that money indeed exchanged hands within the Immigration Bureau. Besides, according to them, the figures (ranging from a low of PHP 5M to a high of PHP 10M) are all hearsay."

The NBI is set to submit any day now its Final Report on the subject investigation.

To view or download the Resolution, click on this link /files/2015/Reso-Wang%20Bo%20Deportation.pdf