Judge rejects appeal of Pinoy driver with passport woes

A High Court judge has dismissed the appeal filed by a Filipino driver who was sentenced to one year in prison for using a passport where his middle name and birthdates were different from the first passport he used to enter Hong Kong.

Both passports were genuine.

Deputy High Court Judge S. D’Almada Remedios on August 3 affirmed the conviction of Ilonggo Niel Bidrejo Brigildo for the offense of “making a false representation to an immigration assistant” because he used his second passport even though he thought that some of its details were wrong.

“It is apparent from the facts as admitted by the appellant that they amount to the offence with which he was charged. The charge was not defective on its face or invalid or unclear,” Judge D’Almada Remedios said in her ruling on August 3.

Brigildo had pleaded guilty at the Shatin Magistrates Courts but appealed to the High Court, saying that he only pleaded guilty to get a lenient sentence.

“There is no suggestion, in the appellant’s reasons for his pleading guilty to the offence, that he did so as a result of any force or fraud perpetrated on him or was not an exercise of free choice or from any mistake as to the nature of the offence charged,” D’Almada Remedios said.

“The appellant’s unequivocal and unambiguous plea of guilty to the offence was not a nullity. For these reasons the appeal against conviction is dismissed,” she added.

Brigildo was arrested on January 31, 2014 at the Lowu immigration control point after he tried to enter Hong Kong using his second passport, where his middle name was stated as “Bedrigo” while his date of birth was Feb. 12, 1986.

A record check showed that he was first allowed entry in Hong Kong in May 2013 using another passport (his first) where his middle name was “Bidrejo” and his date of birth was Feb. 12, 1985.

It turned out that the driver’s two passports were based on two different birth certificates as his birth was registered twice in the Philippines—once in February 1986 and again in September 1992.

According to the Filipino, his birth was registered for the second time “to correct” the details in his first birth certificate.

While in Hong Kong, the driver allegedly lost his first passport, which was based on his second birth certificate. After returning to Philippines in October 2013, he applied for a new passport using his second birth certificate.

However, when the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) issued his new passport, it was based on his first birth certificate, the one with “Bedrigo” as his middle name and 1986 as his year of birth.

A letter from the Philippine Consulate General said that DFA Manila may have considered the driver’s first birth certificate as his “permanent record.”

“It is somewhat surprising that this appellant was able to have two different names, dates of births and places of births registered with the Philippine government at the same time,” Judge D’Almada said.

So when the Filipino returned to Hong Kong, he used his new passport although he believed that the middle name and the year of birth stated there were “incorrect.”

The Filipino has served his prison sentence and is now applying for asylum as a torture claimant.