MANILA, 8 August 2003 — The controversy regarding Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) secretary general Graham Lim’s “fake” Filipino citizenship will drag on.
With the Bureau of Immigration stepping up its bid to pin down the beleaguered basketball official, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) has also joined hands to dig deeper into Lim’s allegedly fraudulent acquisition of a Philippine passport as alleged by some displaced Filipino international referees.
The immigration officials, who summoned Lim as a “Chinese national,” are looking into allegations Lim had also fraudulently used a Philippine passport in his numerous travels abroad.
The complainants and six other national referees, namely, Gomer Rodrigo, Val Borras, Rafael Britanico, Renato Chua, Edgardo Patayeg and Rodolfo “Ding” Roxas, appeared in last week’s hearing.
Lim, through his lawyer, Bonifacio Alentajan, had filed his counter-affidavit last July 23, in which he urged the BI to dismiss what he calls a “purely nuisance case” for lack of merit.
In that counter-affidavit, Alentajan said there was no case, citing the “five-year prescription” in the deportation of an “alien who enters the Philippines with false and misleading statements.”
Meanwhile, in a letter to Liberato Valenzuela, one of the complainants, dated July 17, 2003, DFA Office of the Consular Affairs Passport Division director Bernardita Catalla said her office “is presently conducting an investigation on the alleged fraud committed by Mr. Graham Chua Lim in his application for Philippine passport.”
The DFA investigation stemmed from Valenzuela’s complaint that Lim had allegedly faked his way into obtaining a Philippine passport despite allegedly remaining a Chinese citizen since his birth on Feb, 7, 1957 to Chinese parents How Ang Lim and Mary Chua.
Although a Philippine-born alien, Lim allegedly only sought Filipino citizenship on March 17, 1994 but did not pursue his own petition. Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 51 dismissed Lim’s plea for Filipino citizenship the following year for Lim’s apparent lack of interest.
But while Lim was petitioning for naturalization, he had already obtained a Philippine passport since 1991 while allegedly maintaining his Chinese citizenship as presented by Valenzuela in documents submitted to both the DFA and the Immigration, which is also looking into the possible deportation of Lim.
The DFA, according to Catalla, is also coordinating with the BI and had inquired on the immigration status of Lim.
Valenzuela, who filed both cases with Tito Tagle, Lim’s former deputy in the BAP, said they have inquired about Lim’s citizenship status “to correct his way of treatment of genuine Filipinos whom Lim displaced in the PBA.”
Lim has been appointed PBA secretary general despite allegations by the referees and other former BAP officials that he is not a Filipino citizen.
He has been asked to appear before the Bureau of Immigration to answer charges that he “misrepresented” himself as a Filipino in several trips abroad while holding Chinese citizenship.
The international referees, led b Valenzuela, were removed from the PBA Referees Commission (Baprecom) roster after Lim led a group that ousted PBA president Freddie Jalasco in 2001.
Valenzuela and his group sought the support of Sen. Robert Barbers and Rep. Monico Puentevella as they seek the deportation of Lim. In separate letters to Barbers and Puentevella, the referees likened Lim’s case to those of the so-called “Fil-shams,” which Barbers’ Committee on Games, Amusements and Sports, has been looking into for several months now.
