Hontiveros asks Ombudsman to reconsider suspension of ‘pastillas’ whistleblower
MANILA, Philippines — Senator Risa Hontiveros has appealed to the Office of the Ombudsman to reconsider the inclusion of one of her “pastillas” whistleblowers among the immigration personnel slapped with a six-month suspension over the bribery scheme.
The Office of the Ombudsman earlier placed 45 Bureau of Immigration (BI) officials and personnel on preventive suspension in connection with the so-called “pastillas” scheme, including Immigration Officer II Jeffrey Dale Ignacio.
But Hontiveros on Wednesday said Ignacio was “invaluable” in the Senate probe that uncovered the modus.
Under the scheme, immigration officers allegedly extort money from Chinese nationals in exchange for their seamless entry into the country without proper documents.
“May appeal ako sa Office of the Ombudsman — dahil isinali po si Dale Ignacio sa kanilang order of suspension — if they could possibly reconsider that because of the service he (Ignacio) has been doing to our probe,” she said in an interview over ABS-CBN News Channel.
(I have an appeal to the Office of the Ombudsman—because they included Dale Ignacio in their order of suspension—if they could possibly reconsider that because of the service he (Ignacio) has been doing to our probe.)
Ignacio was the second witness to testify on the multi-billion modus during the hearings of the Senate Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations, and Gender Equality, which is chaired by Hontiveros.
A self-confessed member of the so-called “pastillas” group, Ignacio tagged former BI ports operation division chief Marc Red Mariñas as the “ringleader” of the operation.
Mariñas has since denied this allegation, claiming ignorance of the scheme.
Hontiveros, nevertheless, welcomed the Ombudsman’s suspension order.
“This preventive suspension is a welcome, necessary development in our probe,” she said.
“I trust that his (Ombudsman Samuel Martires) office will go after the big fish, pati yung wala na sa Bureau of Immigration,” the senator added.
