Up to 40 individuals in ‘pastillas’ scheme to face raps —Hontiveros

Senator Risa Hontiveros says the government must go after the masterminds behind the “festering pool of corruption” within the Bureau of Immigration responsible for the so-called “pastillas scam,” during the Senate Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations and Gender Equality hearing, Tuesday, October 6, 2020.  (Albert Calvelo/Senate PRIB)

MANILA, Philippines — The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) will file cases against up to 40 individuals over their involvement in the so-called pastillas bribery scheme wherein it allows smooth entry of Chinese men in the Philippines in exchange for a service fee, Senator Risa Hontiveros said Saturday.

“We will probably leave that in large part sa NBI dahil sinimulan nila yung case build-up, case filing doon sa unang dalawang pu.

Sabi ni Attorney [NBI Special Action Unit (SAU) chief Emeterio] Dongallo Jr. baka umabot sa apatnapu lahat lahat ang kanilang kakasuhan,” she said over DWIZ when sought for updates regarding the multibillion scam involving Bureau of Immigration (BI) officers.

(We will leave that to the NBI because they started the case build-up, case filing on the first 20 suspects. Attorney Dongallo  said they might file cases against up to 40 individuals.)

Hontiveros, meanwhile, mentioned that the irregularities found in the Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth of accused officials will give more evidence to help officials in the investigation.

“Mukha talaga itong security guard, kanang kamay ni dating POD [Port Operations Division] chief Red Mariñas. Iyon na nga yung lang ang salary grade at actual na sweldo, pero pambihirang SALN sa lifestyle check,” Hontiveros said.

(This security guard could be the right hand man of Red Mariñas. His salary is just small but SALN showed a bigger amount in the lifestyle check.)

“The fact na may ganyang SALN, validation ang pagkaso lalong palalakasin ang kanilang loob na patuloy imbestigahan hindi lang ang pastillas pati ang visa upon arrival, posibleng sindikato ng papalabas na  human trafficking at prostitution,” she added.

(The fact that there is a SALN like that, this is a validation of cases and that it would also help in probing not only the pastillas scheme but also visa upon arrival and syndicates in human trafficking at prostitution.)

Hontiveros was reacting to previous news reports that showed that a security guard with a monthly salary of P10,000 had a P14 million worth of assets after a lifestyle check.

Mariñas is one of the ringleaders in the pastillas scheme. He will also face criminal complaints over operations in the pastillas racket.

CFC