The Department of Justice (DOJ) on Tuesday issued an immigration lookout bulletin order (ILBO) on nine persons involved in an inquiry on the use of government funds for Covid-19 response.

However, the ILBO does not bar any of the nine individuals from leaving the country.

DOJ Secretary Menardo Guevarra told reporters that following Blue Ribbon Committee chair Senator Richard Gordon’s request, they issued ILBO on former presidential advised Michael Yang, also known as Yang Hong Ming; former Procurement Service-Department of Budget and Management chief Lloyd Christopher Lao; Overall Deputy Ombudsman Warren Rex Liong; and Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corporation president Twinkle Dargani, chief executive officer Huang Tzu Yen, executive Krizle Grace Mago, directors Justine Garado and Linconn Ong, and secretary Mohit Dargani.

“The BI (Bureau of Immigration) will make the proper arrangements for monitoring the subjects’ travel movements abroad,” Guevarra said in a text message.

Mago had testified that she had been with the company since its incorporation in 2019 and had communicated online with the government’s procurement of supplies, including face masks, in March 2020.

Guevarra said the ILBO is “for monitoring purposes only and it is not, and of itself, a sufficient prohibition for a subject’s departure from the Philippines”.

Yang missed the Senate hearing on Monday due to hypertension and sent instead his lawyer, Raymond Fortun.

The ILBO does not prevent departure from the Philippines, unlike a hold departure order which is handed down by a Regional Trial Court where there is a pending criminal case.