De Lima names insider as BI officer-in-charge

MANILA, Philippines - Justice Secretary Leila de Lima has named an insider to be the temporary head of the Bureau of Immigration (BI) while President Aquino has yet to name a new commissioner to replace Marcelino Libanan.

In a department order signed July 28, De Lima named lawyer Ronald Ledesma of the BI’s Board of Special Inquiry as officer-in-charge and Justice Undersecretary Jose Vicente Salazar, whom she earlier named as OIC, as undersecretary-in-charge of the bureau.

Ledesma, who has served as resident ombudsman of the agency, takes over the BI amid plans by the government to reorganize the immigration officers assigned at Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) following reports that Ilocos Sur Rep. Ronald Singson allegedly received special treatment when he boarded a flight for Hong Kong, where he was arrested on drug trafficking charges last July 11.

De Lima said changes in the BI-NAIA would be a “reshuffle or total revamp.”

De Lima said Ledesma would lead the investigation into why Singson was able to leave the airport allegedly with illegal drugs in his luggage, undetected by airport officials. He was arrested at Chek Lap Kok International Airport for possession of 26.1 grams of cocaine and two tablets of diazepam, a regulated anti-anxiety drug.

Singson, who was charged with trafficking of dangerous drugs, could be fined up to HK$5,000,000 (P29.7 million) and be sentenced to three years to life in jail if he pleads not guilty but is later convicted. The charge sheet recommended no bail and no option for deportation for the Ilocos Sur congressman.