‘Deny to death:’ Hontiveros hits denial of BI officers, staff tagged in ‘pastillas’ modus

MANILA, Philippines — “Deny to death pa rin.”

This was how Senator Risa Hontiveros described current and former Bureau of Immigration (BI) officials and personnel linked to the alleged “pastillas” money-making scheme after they claimed ignorance of the modus and maintained that they are not involved in such operations within the agency.

As chair of the  Senate Committee on Women, the senator on Monday led the resumption of the investigation of crimes connected to Philippine offshore gaming operators (Pogos), including prostitution and trafficking.

Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, a member of the committee, also warned resource persons of the inquiry—both whistleblower and immigration officer Allison Chiong and those he accused of involvement in the racket—to tell the truth.

“I think it’s quite prudent on our part to remind both parties dito—both the accused and the accuser—that you are under oath and the purpose of this committee hearing is to ferret out the truth and para matulungan kami in aid of legislation ano gagawin ng committee na ito (you can help this committee in crafting pieces of legislation),” Dela Rosa said.

“The committee might as well use its power to compel you to tell the truth. So yan lang, dapat alam niyo (That’s all, you should know that). Baka ineasy-easy lang niyo ito, deny kayo nang deny and later on ma-establish yung ginagawa niyong kalokohan then mananagot kayo (You might take this matter lightly and deny everything and later on, if your involvement is established… you’ll answer for this),” he added.

Before this, Hontiveros asked former and current immigration officials and personnel who Chiong linked to the “pastillas” scheme if they are indeed involved in the alleged bribery scheme.

All of them claimed they are not aware of the said scheme and denied any involvement.

At one point, Hontiveros asked some immigration officers if they are the ones included in the Viber group chat where the names of “VIP” Chinese nationals are posted.

They denied they were the ones in the chat threads even as Hontiveros had pointed out that their names were similar to those who were tagged in the said conversations.

“Naiintindihan ko kung bakit galit ang publiko sa paraan nila ng pagsagot o sa pag-iwas sa pag-sagot sa mga isyu sa hearing na ito,” Hontiveros told reporters after the hearing. (I understand the public is angry with the way they answered and parried questions in this hearing.)

“Kitang-kita na may harapang nagsisinungaling, at may naglilihim, andyan na yung mga pangalan at mga photographs, andiyan na yung mga Viber screenshots, deny to death pa rin,” she added. ( Clearly there’s blatant lying, deceptions. The names and their pictures are shown in the Viber screenshots and they still denying it.)