The Department of Justice (DOJ) has created a fact-finding committee to look into the possible government lapses that led to the escape of an illegal alien from the custody of the Bureau of Immigration in December last year.
 
Through Department Order 198 issued on Monday, the DOJ also tasked the panel to review the findings of a BI investigative panel that recommended charges against BI officials and personnel, who were responsible for the escape of South Korean Kim Tae Dong.
 
Making up the DOJ panel are City Prosecutor Donald Lee as chairman, Regional Prosecutor Rommel Baligod as vice-chairman, National Bureau of Investigation Assistant Regional Director Jose Justo Yap and State Counsel Charlene May Tapic as members.
 
After being declared as an "undesirable alien," Kim was placed under BI custody pending her deportation. However, while confined at the St. Luke's Medical Center in Taguig City, Kim managed to escape on Dec. 24, 2011.
 
The DOJ panel was also instructed to "delve deeper into allegations of bribery and other forms of corruption, as well as the possibility of Kim's continued presence in the country under a Korean passport."
 
The DOJ panel would also determine possible accountability and liability of SLMC staff and administration in connection with the escape, the DOJ said.
 
The panel will also investigate the possibility that court actions and processes had been "used or abused to effect or facilitate [Kim’s] release and preclude his deportation."
 
The committee was required to submit a report of its findings and recommendations, including the appropriate criminal and administrative charges against those responsible for the escape, within 20 days after the issuance of the department order.