Calima’s response

Batas Mauricio

THE issue that we must not lose sight of in the controversy over the alleged bribe try of online gambling operator Jack Lam against Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II and Chairman Andrea Domingo of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (Pagcor) is the apparent smuggling, as it were, of Chinese citizens into the country to work illegally in Lam’s casino.

In the face of the conflicting claims of Lam, through his partners here, and of Aguirre, on whether there was indeed a bribe offer or not, it is clear everybody are in agreement that some 1,300 or so Chinese have been working illegally at the Jack Lam-owned Fontana Leisure Parks and Casino at Clark Freeport Zone in Clark, Pampanga.

How did these Chinese workers get into the Philippines? How come they were allowed to come here? And why did Fontana Leisure Parks and Casino allow them to work illegally, as Aguirre had been saying? Did this not violate the franchise given to Jack Lam to operate a casino and should therefore result in the cancellation of that franchise?

Another question that Jack Lam and Fontana Leisure Parks and Casino must answer is: did not their franchise include a provision that requires the employment of Filipino workers in their casino? As far as I can gather, this employment of Filipino workers by licensed foreign gambling operators is mandatorily provided for in their franchises.

On the other hand, I suggest that Aguirre’s department and the Bureau of Immigration should disclose to the public the immigration records of the arrested 1,300 or so Chinese workers at Fontana Leisure Park and Casino. The public has a right to know whether these workers legally entered the Philippines, and what their qualifications are that prompted Jack Lam to allow them to work for him.

What is more, our countrymen should also be informed as to whether anyone of those arrested already came into the country before. Sources are telling me that some of them previously came to the Philippines, worked for a while, but were deported back to China because of their inability to legalize their stay here.

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In the interest of fairness, I am impelled to reproduce here a portion of what is being peddled on Facebook as the reaction of former police general and dismissed immigration intelligence chief Charles Calima over allegations that he collected P18 million from the P50 million paid by another retired police general as bribe money for and on behalf of online gambling operator Jack Lam.

This one was published by Benzar H. Herrpatron, who claims that Gen. Calima was his classmate at the Philippine Military Academy: “To all my friends, colleagues and people who know me, please withhold your judgment on me. Do not base your judgment solely on the allegations of two associate commissioners who are willing to do anything and everything to wiggle out from an extortion case where we have very strong evidence against them.

“I have lost all respect to (Al) Argosino and (Mike) Robles (deputy commissioners) after I personally saw the evidence against them noong trina-trabaho namin sila para ma-entrap sana sa pangalawang paghingi nila ng fifty million pesos. They are the new faces of corruption sa matataas na katungkulan sa gobierno.

“They are far worse tha the drug addicts who get killed in the ongoing war against illegal drugs. To me, I have already considered tham as enemies because what they have done was betrayal of public trust and of the trust and confidence bestowed upon them by no less than the secretary of justice and President Duterte.

“You will know the real story and you will also hate these people when you get to hear my side. Wars are not won in a single battle. We still have to fight many battles, or maybe, for me, kayo na lang ang magpapatuloy ng laban because I am done. I just got my termination papers of my work sa immigration signed by Sec. Aguirre through cellphone.

“It seems that fighting corruption is an exercise in futility in this country. The good guys are the casualty while the bad guys have their way through their influence and connections. Kawawa ang Pilipino. The Filipino people are the biggest losers. Itong sina Argosino and Robles, they conveniently made me as their fall guy. Binaligtad ang kwento. But people see that their story is full of holes…”

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There is something much, much more than what meets the eye, so to speak, in the sizzling dispute between the US and China, over the recovery by China of an unmanned underwater vehicle (or spy drone, as some are saying) belonging to US, at the waters off Subic, Zambales, in what is clearly within the Philippine exclusive economic zone.

If not handled carefully, this incident could spark a dangerous nuclear warfare between the US (and its allies) and China (and its own allies), that could spell the end of the world. All parties, including the Philippines, must therefore exert extra effort to find a peaceful and acceptable solution to this situation, and real soon, if I may add.

For whatever it is worth, I suggest that the US, with utmost due respect, must pay serious attention to China’s suggestion to approach this issue with utmost circumspection, without the anger-generating or sympathy-seeking media hype (of which the US is notoriously famous of) that can only cause more complications rather than providing a solution.