The Sandiganbayan Sixth Division on Monday, April 27, issued a precautionary hold departure order (PHDO) against Sen. Francis Joseph “Chiz” Escudero and businessman Maynard Siy Ngu.
The anti-graft court also directed the Bureau of Immigration (BI) commissioner to prevent their departure from the Philippines and to include their names in the agency’s Hold Departure List.
The order is issued typically for crimes with more than six years imprisonment as penalty, and this was used in the case against Escudero and Ngu who are both facing charges of plunder and graft over the flood control controversy.
Earlier that day, the Sixth Division held a hearing on the petition filed by the Office of the Ombudsman seeking the issuance of a PHDO against Escudero and Ngu.
The petition was raffled to the division on Saturday.
A PHDO is a court order directing the BI to bar a person from leaving the country while a case is pending.
Escudero and Ngu are under investigation in connection with an alleged flood control controversy. (Jel Santos)
