NBI readies 2nd round of cases vs ‘pastillas’ bosses

The National Bureau of Investigation on Thursday said the ringleaders of the “pastillas” bribery scheme in the Bureau of Immigration (BI) would be included in the second round of complaints to be filed in the Office of the Ombudsman.

“We are close to getting the whole picture and we can already include the so-called bosses,” NBI Special Action Unit (SAU) chief Emeterio Dongallo Jr. said in a radio interview.

Dongallo said the second whistleblower, Immigration Officer II Jeffrey Dale Ignacio, almost corroborated the statement of the first witness, Immigration Officer Allison Chiong, who testified in the Senate about the multibillion-peso scam involving BI officers who facilitated the smooth entry of Chinese nationals to the country in exchange for a P10,000 “service fee.”

Sen. Risa Hontiveros, chair of the Senate committee on women, children, family relations and gender equality, earlier estimated that P40 billion went to the pockets of corrupt immigration officers from the pastillas scheme, so called because the bribe money was rolled in white wrapper like the milk candy, as well as grease money from visa-upon-arrival for mostly Chinese tourists intending to work for Philippine offshore gaming operators.

Lifestyle check

“With the cooperation of the two whistleblowers, we can already complete the picture … ,” Dongallo said.

The NBI was also doing a lifestyle check on the officials involved in the racket and its findings will be part of the evidence against them.

“We are conducting an initial check of employees’ assets and basic salaries of those accused of involvement in the pastillas racket,” Dongallo said.

Discrepancies

Some BI officials and personnel, he said, declared high assets and net worth in their statement of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN). Discrepancies between actual earnings and existing properties and money stated in the SALNs may be considered signs of corruption, he said.

Last month, the NBI filed cases in the Ombudsman against 19 immigration officers allegedly involved in the racket.

But Chiong told a Senate hearing on Sept. 22 that the bosses of the pastillas scam were not included in the charges. He identified Marc Red Mariñas, chief of the Ports Operations Division, and his subordinate, Erwin Ortañez, chief of the Travel Control and Enforcement Unit (TCEU), as the ringleaders.

He also identified those working under Ortañez as Glen Comia, Bien Guevarra and Danieve Binsol, who handled Terminals 1 to 3 of Ninoy Aquino International Airport, and their deputies, Billy Cadang, Anthony Lopez and Arlan Mendoza.

“They are the bosses. The bosses hold positions in TCEU because TCEU is the one in control. That is the backbone of the syndicate,” Chiong said.

Mariñas and his father Maynard, former head of the Special Operations Communications Unit which handled the visa upon arrival, appeared in the Senate hearing on Tuesday and denied their involvement in the scam.

Hierarchy of bosses

Dongallo earlier said initial NBI findings showed a “hierarchy” of ringleaders running the scheme.

“When Dale Ignacio came, we were able to complete the whole picture,” he said. “He almost corroborated the statement of Allison Chiong and it looks like we will eventually get the so-called bosses in this case.”

Chiong’s personal knowledge, Dongallo said, only covered the “foot soldiers” or those in the lower ranks of the BI.

In one of the Senate hearings, Ignacio described himself as one of the “pastillas foot soldiers” and confirmed that Marc Red Mariñas was the leader.

Ignacio was also instrumental in the arrest of NBI lawyer Joshua Paul Capiral and his brother, BI employee Christopher John, for their alleged involvement in the pastillas scheme. Joshua Paul was allegedly case-fixing for people tagged in the racket, boasting of contacts in the Ombudsman.

The BI has also looked into the SALNs of those named in the pastillas scheme.

Information in the SALNs were included in the report of the BI’s fact-finding committee that was submitted to the Department of Justice, the bureau’s spokesperson, Dana Sandoval, told the Inquirer.