Couple suspected of smuggling corals flee PHL

The couple who allegedly supplied the illegal shipment of P35 million worth of black corals and other endangered marine species fled the country last week, the Senate sergeant-at-arms revealed Monday. Senate sergeant-at-arms Jose Balajadia Jr. said that Olivia Lim Li and Joe Pring (aka Jok Beng, aka Jo Beng Li, aka Li Yu Ming), owners of the Zamboanga-based Li and Lim Trading, allegedly left the Philippines last week. Balajadia said that they found out that Pring left the country last June 7 via Cebu Pacific 5J854 bound for Manila with a connecting flight to Hong Kong via Cebu Pacific flight 5J142 after the Senate sergeant-at-arms sent two teams to Zamboanga on June 9. On the other hand, he said Li's whereabouts could not be determined but that they found that she had booked flights with a certain group on July 5, 6, and 7. "We have no record of her departure however," he said. The two left a day before Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri, chairman of the Senate environment committee, cited them in contempt and asked the Senate sergeant-at-arms to arrest them for still failing to show up despite a subpoena issued by the panel. The Senate panel had also earlier cited in contempt Exequiel Navarro, the consignee of the shipment, for failing to show up during the committee's first hearing. When he finally attended the Senate hearing, Navarro denied being involved in any illegal activity. Charges Li and Lim Trading had tapped the shipping firm JKA Transport system to ship 163 stuffed hawkbills and green turtles; 21,169 pieces of black corals; 7,340 pieces of Trumpet and Helmet shells and 196 kilograms of sea whips. The items were declared as raw rubber. The Bureau of Customs (BOC) had filed a string of criminal charges against the individuals involved in the shipment. In its complaint, the BOC said the respondents violated: