HOW can a public official fly out of the country days after a hold departure order (HDO) was slapped against him?

Apparently, two former officials from the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) and the Commission on Audit (COA) were able to scoot out of the Philippines despite an HDO issued against them in connection to the P366-million PCSO intelligence fund scam.

In a motion of the Office of the Ombudsman to the Sandiganbayan, state prosecutors Diosdado Calonge and Julieta Zinnia Niduaza told the anti-graft court that former PCSO board member Raymundo Roquero and COA intelligence fund unit head Nilda Plaras flew out of the country three days after their HDO was released.

On July 20, the Sandiganbayan First Division asked the Bureau of Immigration to prevent the two officials from leaving through an HDO.

However, upon confirmation from the verification and certification unit of the Immigration bureau, the two were still able to escape the court’s jurisdiction on July 23.

Roquero boarded Philippine Airlines while Plaras took a Tiger Airways flight. Their destinations were undisclosed.

“Their flight is indicative of their guilt. They absconded to avoid arrest and to avoid trial,” prosecutors raised.

They castigated the defense counsels of Roquero and Plaras for they “allowed them [the accused] to leave the country instead of advising them to observe the rule of law.”

Through their respective lawyers, Roquero and Plaras were able to challenge the Ombudsman’s order to file plunder charges against them.

Roquero filed a motion for judicial determination of probable cause. Plaras ran to the Supreme Court and sought a temporary restraining order, which she successfully attained.

“Both accused left the country in haste after they had learned that they were being indicted before the Sandiganbayan of a non-bailable case,” the prosecutors said, adding that when they filed their relief before the anti-graft court, it showed that they were aware of the plunder case.

State prosecutors asked the Sandiganbayan to nullify the passports of Roquero and Plaras and to place them under red notice status of the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol).

A red notice is a request for any country to locate an individual pending his provisional arrest and extradition in accordance with the requesting country’s national laws.

The prosecutors have already asked the court to invalidate the passports of former PCSO general manager Rosario Uriarte and former board members Jose Taruc 5th and Ma. Fatima Valdes and to place them also under red notice status.