Bolante disappears into mists of mystery

STAR Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON — Two weeks after arriving in Los Angeles with an invalidated US visa, former agriculture undersecretary Jocelyn Bolante has disappeared into the mists of mystery.

There are more questions than answers about the man alleged to have used some P2.8 billion in government fertilizer funds to reward politicians who helped President Arroyo win the hotly contested May 2004 presidential election.

What is known is that Bolante arrived at the Los Angeles airport from Seoul, South Korea on July 7, was taken into custody by immigration officials and is being housed at the San Pedro immigration detention center near Los Angeles.

Everything after that is murky.

Laurie Haley, a spokeswoman for immigration and customs enforcement in Los Angeles, said Bolante’s tourist visa was not valid because the US Embassy in the Philippines had revoked it.

She said Bolante was being "processed for removal" but could not say when this might happen.

Asked if Bolante had applied for asylum, she said "that is a privacy issue which I can neither confirm or deny." Reliable official sources told The STAR Bolante was not being held against his will and was merely "housed" at the San Pedro detention center.

Bolante is believed to be seeking some form of American protection.

If it’s just a simple case of coming to the US without a valid visa, a person is "summarily removed," or put on the first plane back to where he or she came from, said Januario Azarcon, a well-known immigration lawyer in the Washington metropolitan area.

So why is Bolante still in Los Angeles?

Did he actually apply for asylum or is he being held for other still unknown reasons?

What is certain is that Asiana, which flew Bolante to LA, did not know his visa was invalid or else it would not have allowed him to board the plane.

Did Bolante himself know his visa was not valid but flew in anyway to seek asylum? Or was it really a case of not knowing he had a canceled visa, a hitch that was further aggravated by other problems?

Peter Gordon, Los Angeles airport’s acting port director for US Customs and Border Protection, said that although the Philippine Senate names Bolante in an arrest order, the US government’s main concern is that Bolante appears to have arrived in the country illegally.

Why was his visa canceled? And why did Bolante reject consular help at an immigration hearing of his case, citing a need for privacy?

Azarcon said if Bolante simply came to the US without a valid visa he would have been deported now.

"Because he’s still here I suspect he may have applied for refugee status or asylum," Azarcon said.

It takes time for immigration to investigate and determine if a person’s request for asylum is genuine or not.

"If the application is found to be frivolous you can be barred from any future consideration by the US government. You cannot come back," Azarcon said.