Jinggoy's aide slipped out of country using fake name

MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Jose "Jinggoy" Estrada's co-accused and former staff member slipped out of the country using a fake identity, the Bureau of Immigration said Friday.

Immigration spokesperson Elaine Tan disclosed on Wednesday that graft respondent Pauline Labayen flew out of the country before the Sandiganbayan issued the hold-departure order for the 54 personalities linked to the pork barrel scam.

Tan said in a statement on Friday that no information was found when agents initially verified her departure status as she used a passport bearing the name "Pauline Therese Mary Labayen Cabico" when her full name is "Pauleen Therese Mary Labayen."

Related: Bank accounts of Gigi Reyes, Jinggoy's aide almost emptied

Labayen, Estrada's former appointments secretary, was tagged as the liaison of businesswoman and alleged scam mastermind Janet Lim Napoles with the senator.

She reportedly resigned from Estrada's office in mid-July after she was charged for the malvaersation scheme before the Office of the Ombudsman.

Tan said Estrada offered her legal assistance after she quit her post, but it turned out that Labayen has already left for abroad.

The Sandiganbayan issued the travel ban in May shortly after the Ombudsman filed the plunder and graft charges against Estrada, Sen. Ramon "Bong" Revilla Jr., Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile, various government officials as well as Napoles and her agents.

The bureau said that among the accused, two government officials, namely former Technology Resource Center director Antonio Ortiz and Renato Ornopia, have left the country before the arrest warrants were isssued.

Tan identified 14 others whose records are not available including Napoles' employee John Raymund de Asis and nephew Ronald John Lim; former National Agribusiness Corp. employees Margarita Guadinez and Maria Julie Villaralvo-Johnson; and National Livelihood Development Corp. staff members Sofia Cruz, Fernando Ramirez, Dorilyn Fabian, Hernani Ditchon, Rodrigo Galay, Aileen Palama, Amparo Fernando, Myla Ogerio, Jesus Castillo, and Noel Macha.

The Bureau of Immigration continues to check the identities and whereabouts of the accused by comparing their names to similar ones in the Immigration databank.