MANILA, Philippines — Some travel agencies allegedly offer Philippine passports, birth certificates and even driver licenses to Chinese nationals entering the Philippines via online messaging platform WeChat, Sen. Risa Hontiveros bared Monday.
During the resumption of the Senate hearing on prostitution in connection with Philippine offshore gaming operators (Pogos) on Monday, Hontiveros presented screenshots of “advertisements” of such “services” being offered to Chinese citizens.
“They will even produce a birth certificate for you… They even offer passports. A Chinese tour agency offers passports of the Republic of the Philippines. They offer to process an LTO [Land Transportation Office] driving license even using a tourist visa,” she said, speaking partly in Filipino.
WeChat screenshot presented by Sen. Hontiveros during Monday’s hearing.
“Philippine tourist visas are useful for these Chinese ‘tourists.’ They can open a Philippine bank account. Just provide a passport photo — no personal appearance needed at the bank,” she added.
WeChat screenshot presented by Sen. Hontiveros during Monday’s hearing.
She also said some tour agencies purportedly offer to Chinese nationals “delisting” from the blacklist and “airport release if barred entry.”
“Tour agencies are advertising these ‘services’ freely — these criminal services,” Hontiveros said.
Hontiveros, as chair of the Senate Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations and Gender Equality, opened an inquiry into prostitution linked to Pogos last January.
In the course of her investigation, immigration officer Allison Chiong reached out to the senator’s office to blow the whistle on the alleged “pastillas scheme” within the Bureau of Immigration (BI) where officers allegedly extort money from Chinese nationals, most of which are employed to work in Pogos, in exchange for a seamless entry into the Philippines.
Under the pastillas racket, a Chinese citizen pays a P10,000 “service fee” – P2,000 of which will allegedly be shared among officials of the BI’s Travel Control and Enforcement Unit (TCEU), duty Immigration supervisor, and terminal heads.
READ: A P10 billion scheme: Alleged ‘pastillas’ modus in BI exposed in Senate hearing
The remaining P8,000 will then be given to tour operators and syndicates who will transport the Chinese from the airport to Pogo facilities.
It was also earlier disclosed during the previous hearing that blacklisted Chinese fugitives would pay as much as P200,000 to “freely” enter the country.
Hontiveros then asked the Department of Tourism (DOT) about what steps could be taken to crack down on tour agencies offering such “services.”
“We have a list of DOT-accredited enterprises and we are willing to work with your committee on checking the DOT accreditation of these tour operators because it is always very possible that they do things on their own,” DOT director Rowena Montecillo told the Senate committee.
“We have a list, we have their complete contact numbers and details as well,” she added.
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