Immigration Officer, Mr. Abellon, Arrested In Mandaue City

[sonjack2847]

Hummmmm .. I wonder if they have a BI in Sulu .... maybe he will be transferred and made director there ..... :mocking: :mocking:

:cheersty:

Maybe he reads this Mike and will be out to get you ooooh. The amount he was caught for was a fraction of what he got away with.

[Mike S]

That is true Jack ..... when we were getting ready to our 13a back in 2009 I went on line as I had heard tales of guys having to pay anywhere from p10,000 to p50,000 to get approved .... on several Yahoo groups they were talking about him with one guy claiming he was charged p30,000 more than 10 year prior by the guy so I guess he's been around a while ..... my asawa also sat next to a young lady in the SSS office who asked her about how much we had to pay to get our 13a ..... when she told her nothing she told my asawa "you were lucky as it cost us p25,000 for the lawyers interview" ..... and I'm sure he isn't the only one doing it ..... most people just pay in in fear they will be deported or something else happen to them so they just clam up .... and the BI officials that are corrupt know this ...... thank god they  all aren't corrupt .... :thumbsup:

:cheersty:

[Americano]

Read this News story back in April 2009 and then ask yourself why was Abellon still working in Immigration in 2013?

http://www.philstar.com/cebu-news/459346/immigration-lawyer-faces-graft-charges

 Immigration lawyer faces graft charges
 Updated April 21, 2009 - 12:00am

CEBU, Philippines - A Japanese citizen and his Filipina wife filed a criminal complaint for graft and corruption and grave misconduct against an immigration lawyer for allegedly extorting money from him when he applied for a probationary visa in two years ago.

Hiroto Kijima and wife Roselyn of Tagbilaran City, Bohol, filed the complaint before the Office of the Ombudsman Visayas against immigration legal officer Serafin Abellon.

The couple said they went to the immigration office in Mandaue City on May 28, 2007 to apply for the probationary visa of Hiroto. They submitted the requirements to Abellon, who required them a certified marriage contract from the National Statistics Office.

The Kijimas said since they did not have one Abellon offered to get it for them and demanded P30,000 as payment. They paid the amount in three installments.

According to the couple, they first gave P10,000 to Abellon during their first meeting at the latter’s office. Several weeks after they made the first installment, Abellon allegedly called them up to ask for another P10,000. On August 31, 2007, they were called by Abellon to ask for the P10,000 balance because the I-card of Hiroto was already approved.

Abellon told them that he will be the one to get the card. Sometime in September 2008, Abellon again called them to inform that Hiroto’s probationary visa has already expired.

They were asked to reapply and demanded another P30,000 like what they have previously paid without any official receipts. The couple found out that the I-card of Hiroto was released on March 2008 yet but was not given to them.

The couple decided that instead of giving another P30,000 to Abellon, they filed a complaint against him before the anti-graft office. The couple attached in their complaint two another similar complaints filed against Abellon by other people who allegedly fell victim to his reported illegal activities. — Fred P. Languido/BRP   (THE FREEMAN)

[Call me bubba]

I hope that this is a slow but GOOD sign that the BI is serious of "cleaning up its ranks"

as 1 bad "apple" either it be government worker or "tourist" can make life harder for the rest of us.

 am glad that the persons who "spoke up" had the courage to do so,

We. the forum should give our thanks to then and keep our fingers crossed that this will help the BI and its "customers"

[Markham]

As he has been with BI for a long time, he probably knows of quite a few skeletons in cupboards of some in more senior positions. For that reason this case will either simply disappear, or he'll have a few months vacation on full pay or they will move him to another office. The first two options are more likely than the third.

[Americano]

Sunstar and Philstar only do initial news stories but never report on the outcome of cases. Can someone in Cebu City keep us posted on the progress of this case? I'm sure most foreigners would like to see him permanently removed from government service for his many years of illegally obtaining money from us.

[Markham]

Sunstar and Philstar only do initial news stories but never report on the outcome of cases. Can someone in Cebu City keep us posted on the progress of this case? I'm sure most foreigners would like to see him permanently removed from government service for his many years of illegally obtaining money from us.

I think it is quite likely that he will be dealt with administratively rather than criminally. In that case we will never know the outcome - not until someone else reports that he is still in post in Mandaue!

[Americano]

"Dealt with administratively"?  What are they going to do, give him an award for being the biggest criminal working in the BOI?

[Dave Hounddriver]

I would think they are all waiting to see how much award they GET from him rather than giving him an award.  I am sure the 'powers that be' had no idea that he was getting 25,000 for that transaction.  Chances are good he only told his cohorts that it was 15 or 20K

[Americano]

If the Philippines wants to be seen by the rest of the world as a country of laws and justice the DOJ should order Abellon to pay back all of the money he extorted from foreigners and serve the appropriate time in jail.