Gomez

MEMORANDUM **

Rodrigo Chavez Gomez, a native and citizen of the Philippines, petitions for review of a final decision issued by the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA), affirming an Immigration Judge’s (IJ) denial of asylum and withholding of deportation. The IJ determined that Gomez was not credible because he could not precisely recall dates of events and his testimony omitted details from his written application. We grant the petition for review and remand for further proceedings.

DISCUSSION

Gomez lawfully entered the United States in 1991 and applied for asylum, contending he suffered political persecution after resigning from the Coalition for Socialist Reform (CSR), a group affiliated with the Communist Party (CPP) and the New People’s Army (NPA). His written application recounted five incidents that led to his decision to flee the Philippines. First, he witnessed NPA soldiers shoot and kill his cousin for refusing to pay “revolutionary taxes.” Second, he received “hate mail” and noticed he was being followed. Third, the tires on his ear were shot out. Fourth, his apartment was burglarized by individuals (identified by neighbors as NPA soldiers) who left messages on the…