Former Pampanga mayor Tumang secures travel permit, skips House probe

PAMPANGA, Philippines – Former mayor of Mexico, Pampanga, Teddy Tumang, was able to secure a travel permit despite a hold departure order (HDO), a development disclosed Tuesday, July 16, during the hearing of the House committee on public accounts.

As a result, Tumang skipped the committee hearing. The former mayor obtained a travel clearance a day prior to the hearing with valid travel dates between July 16 to July 31, said lawyer Vicente Uncad of the Bureau of Immigration (BI).

Uncad said a resolution was adopted by the Sandiganbayan which allowed the departure of Tumang. However, no other flight details were provided to the committee except for a copy of an e-ticket and an excuse letter.

“Under prevailing laws, if an individual has an HDO issued by a Court, he should secure an allow departure order from that Court. If the Court grants his request to leave the country, he is supposed to bring that clearance of the Court to the BI and apply for an allow departure order from the BI. Once the order is issued, he can present that to the BI officer upon his departure so he may be allowed to leave,” said Uncad.

Uncad said Tumang was still in the country as of 3 pm Tuesday. The hearing, which lasted seven hours, ended before 5 pm. 

The committee, chaired by Abang-Lingkod Representative Joseph Stephen Paduano, noted that details of his flight and travel clearance must still be submitted to the committee. Paduano said if Tumang did not travel on the same date, he could be cited in contempt for lying.

“His excuse letter stated that he has to be excused because he will travel today. So if he cannot travel today, it follows, again, Mr. Teddy Tumang is lying. Because if he has a ticket for the 17th or 18th, then he must be present today,” Paduano said in a mix of Filipino and English.

The former mayor has been the subject of the House probe about the alleged irregularities in the procurement and questionable contracts in Mexico, Pampanga during his term from 2007 to 2010. The complaint was filed at the Office of the Ombudsman by Tumang’s political rival, Ernesto Punzalan.

The House panel also acknowledged the inconsistencies on the questionable properties allegedly owned by Chinese national Aedy Tai Yang which were uncovered during the sessions.

Batangas 2nd District Representative Gerville Luistro instructed the Land Registration Authority (LRA) to furnish a list of all properties linked to Yang. These included records from the city assessor’s office in City of San Fernando and the Registry of Deeds. There are allegations of unlawful property transfers to Yang.

The committee also directed the assessor’s office of Angeles City, Cabanatuan, Nueva Ecija, and Meycauayan in Bulacan to check the consistency of the records of the LRA and to certify the ownership of the properties of Yang.

“Given the inconsistencies, I move to direct the LRA to submit a complete list of all subject properties of Aedy Yang. We are dealing with properties which are unlawfully transferred to a Chinese national,” Luistro said.

“Kung walang records itong Aedy yang sa assessor, nagka property pa siya, double jeopardy na yan. Nagkaproperty siya pero libre siya sa real property tax,” Luistro added.

(If this Aedy does not have records with the assessor, he still has a property, that’s double jeopardy. He owns property but he is free from paying real property tax.)

Meanwhile, efforts to locate Yang and Teddy Tumang’s ally, Roy Gomez, have intensified following Gomez’s being cited for contempt on May 7 for failing to appear before the committee.

Antipolo 2nd District Representative Romeo Acop criticized the Philippine National Police (PNP) and National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) for their inadequate efforts to locate Yang and Gomez. This, after it was discovered that Gomez had recently met with ABC president village chief Terrence Napao at a mall in Angeles City on May 18.

Napao acknowledged the meeting with Gomez but claimed ignorance of the contempt order and subsequent arrest warrant against him. 

“Ngayon ko lang nalaman na kung may contempt order, hindi ko alam na may warrant of arrest. Hindi ko alam saan si Gomez. Noong nagkita kami, sinabihan ko siya bakit hindi ka mag attend ng hearing,” Napao said.

(I only found out today that if there was a contempt order, there was also a warrant of arrest. I don’t know where Gomez is. When we met, I asked him why won’t he attend the hearing.)

Law enforcement agencies have been unsuccessful in locating Gomez as well as Yang, with the PNP stating they only received the contempt order via email last May 27. The Criminal Investigation and Detection Group – Pampanga is set to be invited to the next hearing. – Rappler.com