October 9, 2025
MANILA – The Bureau of Immigration (BI) on Wednesday said it has immediately implemented the close monitoring of 33 individuals.
The list includes former Speaker Martin Romualdez as well as five incumbent and former senators, who have been implicated as having had roles in the questionable insertions in the national budget that led to ghost or substandard public infrastructure projects.
BI spokesperson Dana Sandoval said that immigration officers have started keeping a close watch of the travel movements of 33 key personalities who were the subject of the immigration lookout bulletin order (Ilbo) requested by the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI).
READ: ICI seeks lookout order for Romualdez, Escudero, Estrada, Villanueva, Revilla, Binay
“We confirm receipt of the ILBO issued by the Department of Justice against 33 individuals,” Sandoval told the Inquirer. “Their names have been immediately included in our centralized database, and their travels will be strictly monitored.”
The ICI on Wednesday sent to the Department of Justice (DOJ) an “urgent request” for the issuance of an Ilbo for 33 individuals, including Romualdez, as well as three incumbent and two former senators.
Among them were former Senate President Francis “Chiz” Escudero; Sens. Jinggoy Estrada and Joel Villanueva; former Sen. Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr.; former Sen. and now Makati City Mayor Nancy Binay.
According to the ICI request sent to the DOJ, its ongoing probe into ghost or substandard projects “puts the subjects in a relevant position that operates to make him (or her) an inevitable personality during the fact-finding process.”
“The timely issuance of an Ilbo is of utmost necessity to enable the Commission to proceed without delay and to hold those liable accountable to the Filipino people,” it added.
The DOJ, through the Bureau of Immigration (BI), can keep watch of certain individuals under Ilbo should they attempt to depart the country. The BI has earlier clarified, however, that the Ilbo does not ban individuals from leaving the country, as it is merely for “monitoring purposes” only.
Should immigration agents encounter an individual who is a subject of an Ilbo, the BI would relay the matter to the concerned authorities. /mr