Immigration officer appeals transfer

MANILA, Philippines - An immigration officer has appealed to the Department of Justice (DOJ) to reinstate him to his post as director of the Immigration Area Office III in Clark, Pampanga, saying he had been a victim of “harassment and maneuverings” of political luminaries in the third district of Tarlac.

Immigration officer III Heranio Manalo also urged Justice Secretary Agnes Devanadera to speed up the DOJ investigation into alleged human trafficking at the Bureau of Immigration (BI) office at the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport (DMIA) in Clark.

Last Feb. 11, Manalo, who held office independent of the BI-DMIA, and 15 other immigration officers were ordered by the office of DOJ Undersecretary Ricardo Blancaflor to be transferred to the BI’s main office after an immigration employee identified as Rachel Ong implicated most of the BI-Clark personnel in human trafficking.

Manalo dismissed Ong’s accusations as pure “lies.”

Ong was the subject of a complaint for alleged extortion lodged by a passenger at the Clark airport. Because of the complaint, Manalo recommended the Ong’s transfer to the Manila office so as not to sacrifice the bureau’s crusade against human trafficking.

In a letter to Devanadera, Manalo said, “We believe that such fabricated lies will not stand because it’s full of malice to destroy the integrity of innocent people who opposed her reassignment to BI-DMIA last November 2008.”

Manalo said Ong “had an ax to grind against me because I declined the favors that she asked from me in the past.”