Three Bureau of Immigration (BI) personnel -- a driver and two escorts -- have been charged before the Department of Justice (DOJ) for allegedly helping in the escape of a South Korean fugitive.

BI Spokesperson Dana Krizia Sandoval said on Friday, March 7, those charged are personnel from the bureau's Warden Facility in Taguig City, and one of them is a permanent employee while the two others are contractual employees.

The three personnel, whose identified were withheld, were charged with conniving or consenting to evasion under Article 223 of the Revised Penal Code.

“‘Yung mga contractual po na empleyado ay immediately terminated, tinanggal na po sa serbisyo (The contractual employees were immediately terminated),” Sandoval said.

“‘Yung isa po na permanent employee nagsumite na po tayo ng rekomendasyon sa Department of Justice upang ma-initiate ang administrative case laban sa kanya (We already submitted a recommendation to the DOJ to initiate an administrative case against him),” she said.

South Korean Na Ikhyeon, 38, who was arrested by the BI in 2023 was escorted to the Quezon City Prosecutor’s Office last March 4 to attend a hearing on a case against him.

Sandoval said the three personnel submitted a sworn affidavit that narrated that, after the hearing, the South Korean managed to escape after having used the comfort room of the Prosecutor’s Office.

However, she said the BI’s Fugitive Search Unit (BI-FSU) conducted an investigation and secured closed circuit television (CCTV) camera footage that refuted the claims of the three personnel.

She cited that the CCTV footage showed that, after the hearing, the three personnel took the South Korean to a bar where he was allowed to flee.

“Tumakas po ang pugante na wala man lang humabol. Hinatid pa po s’ya sa isang lokasyon na hindi naman dapat pinupuntahan ng mga pugante (The fugitive escaped without anyone running after him. He was taken to a place where he was not supposed to be taken to),” Sandoval said.

She also said that “as evidenced by the CCTV, wala pong pagbabantay na nangyari (there was no guarding that happened)."

“Very suspicious ‘yung mga actions ng ating mga tauhan. Ito ay hindi normal na activities ng ating personnel at mukhang may connivance itong puganteng ito doon sa mga nag-escort po sa kanya papunta doon sa piskalya (The actions of our personnel were suspicious. These are not normal activities of our personnel and it seems there has been connivance with the fugitive in escorting him to the prosecutor's office),” said Sandoval who noted that the Korean was not even handcuffed.

Aside from his cases in South Korea for which he was arrested, Na was charged before the Quezon City Prosecutor’s Office by a Filipina jewelry shop owner who claimed that the foreigner failed to remit to her the proceeds of the sale of jewelry despite repeated demands.