Sandiganbayan junks plea of BI exec in ‘pastillas’ scam

Sandiganbayan in Quezon City. (File photo by NIÑO JESUS ORBETA / Philippine Daily Inquirer)

MANILA, Philippines — The Sandiganbayan has dismissed the petition by one of the immigration officers tagged in the “pastillas” bribery scheme questioning the amended charge sheet against them by the Office of the Ombudsman.

Immigration officer Er German Robin filed a motion for partial reconsideration last Sept. 17 contesting the decision of state prosecutors to amend the criminal information charging them with graft.

In the amended information, the Office of the Ombudsman has included the aliases in the party names of some of the 50 accused, including Robin’s supposed alias of “10th MAN.”

Robin, in his motion, said the alias was not included in the original charge sheet which his camp described as “utterly baseless,” prompting him not to enter a plea during his arraignment last Sept. 9.

Robin was among the 50 persons, mostly from the Bureau of Immigration (BI), charged with graft at the Sandiganbayan over the pastillas scam, a scheme that allowed Chinese nationals to enter the country illegally in exchange for P10,000 wrapped like the local delicacy pastillas.

—DEMPSEY REYES

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