'Masterminds' behind 'pastillas' scheme pocketed around P40 billion, Hontiveros says
MANILA, Philippines — The so-called masterminds who facilitated the entry of Chinese nationals through the "pastillas" bribery scheme and abuse of the Visa Upon Arrival (VUA) system have amassed P40 billion since 2017, Sen. Risa Hontiveros said Tuesday.
"There is corruption in every corner of the Bureau of Immigration (BI). In the 'pastillas' scam, we estimate that its masterminds [pocketed] P30 billion, that's based on the arrival data of non-VUA Chinese nationals," she said partially in Filipino.
"In VUA naman, another revenue stream, the kickbacks go straight into the pockets of some officials," she added.
Hontiveros chairs the Senate Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations and Gender Equality which resumed its probe into the "pastillas" scam on Tuesday. The alleged masterminds behind the scheme attended the hearing after being cited in contempt for failing to do so earlier this month.
Marc Red Mariñas, former head of the BI Port Operations Division physically attended the hearing while his father Maynardo Mariñas, former head of the BI Special Operation Communications Unit attended through video conference.
'More Chinese arrivals since 2017 than there are residents of Quezon City'
Citing BI data, Hontiveros revealed that about four million Chinese nationals have entered the country since 2017.
"The numbers are staggering. For the sake of comparison, four million Chinese nationals arriving here since 2017 is comparable to more than the entire population of Quezon City. Kumbaga, bakit mas marami pa sa mga residente ng QC ang bilang ng Chinese na pinapasok sa bansa? (Why are there more Chinese entering the country than there are residents of QC?)"
"Of these four million Chinese nationals, around 3.8 million were non-VUA applicants while around 150,000 were VUA applicants. Around three million of these non-VUA applicants are believed to have paid the extra P10,000 service fee in the 'pastillas' scam," she added.
Whistleblowers and Immigration Officers Allison Chiong and Jeffrey Dale Ignacio confirmed that the masterminds behind the scam take part of the bribe money.
"In Pastillas, the money goes to the airport, then it is given to the IOs (Immigration Officers). Before he resigned, Red Mariñas was in charge as chief of the Ports Operations Division (POD)," Hontiveros said in Filipino.
Ignacio on Tuesday also revealed that, when the so-called foot soldiers or subordinates involved in the pastillas scheme followed up on late payouts, they were told by their superiors that the money was being set aside for Red Mariñas' mayoral campaign in Muntinlupa.
"Meanwhile, when it comes to the questionable VUA transactions, the bribe allegedly goes straight to the main office, where the visas are approved," the senator added.
"Before he retired, Maynardo Mariñas, Red's father, was in charge here as head of the Special Operations Communications Unit (SOCU), which checks and audits the VUAs. The Mariñas family was raking it in, but the question remains: Who is their protector?" Hontiveros said in Filipino.
Protector of Mariñas father-son tandem sought
The senator emphasized that both Red and Maynardo Mariñas were appointed heads of their respective divisions by then Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre in July 2016. About a year later, Aguirre issued Department Order No. 41 which allowed citizens of China to enter the Philippines without having previously obtained a visa from the Department of Foreign Affairs.
"It had been established in previous hearings that visa upon arrivals were processed by travel agencies, many of whom only required a mere screen shot of the applicant's passport sent via the WeChat application. The person involved could have been trafficked by a syndicate, but as long as she or he had no derogatory record on paper, then that person would have been able to enter the country with a VUA," Hontiveros said.
She claimed that this could have started a "corrupt business model," recalling that it was the "prostitution and slave-like conditions related to the rise of [Philippine offshore gaming operators]" that the Senate committee initially sought to probe.
"Because of the greed of our own officials, the Philippines has become a haven for all kinds of crimes: illegal POGO, prostitution, kidnapping, and many more). In exchange for Chinese money, our borders have been made porous, our women and children made vulnerable," the senator said in Filipino and English.
"We will not stop until those who have harmed our security, women, and youth are not punished. We will not stop until the root cause of this corruption is dissolved," Hontiveros added in Filipino.
The former justice secretary has repeatedly denied allegations that he protected the syndicate responsible for the "pastillas" racket.
Meanwhile, the BI fact-finding committee chaired by Deputy Commissioner Toby Javier recommended to the Department of Justice that officials tagged in the bribery scheme be slapped with administrative charges.
Bookmark this page for updates on the alleged money-making scheme called "pastillas" racket, which facilitates the entry of Chinese tourists who later work in Philippine offshore gaming operators in exchange for grease money.
Sen. Risa Hontiveros commends the move of the Sandiganbayan to drop criminal charges against “pastillas” scam whistleblower Jeffrey Dale Ignacio, and to admit him as state witness against high-ranking immigration officials involved in criminal activity.
"Jeffrey’s detailed and valuable testimony has helped shine a light on the almost-institutionalized corruption in the BI, and helped identify some of the ‘big cats’ involved in this multi-billion peso racket. As a state witness, I hope his testimony will provide a big boost to the prosecution of these erring officials and employees," Hontiveros says.
The DOJ says it fired found eighteen (18) officers and employees of the Bureau of Immigration (BI) after it found them administratively liable for grave misconduct, gross neglect of duty, and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service, in relation to the so called “Pastillas Scheme."
The DOJ says it fired found eighteen (18) officers and employees of the Bureau of Immigration (BI) after it found them administratively liable for grave misconduct, gross neglect of duty, and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service, in relation to the so called “Pastillas Scheme."
Sen. Risa Hontiveros, chair of a Senate panel that has held hearings on the 'pastillas' bribery scheme at the Bureau of Immigration, welcomes the filing of raps against former BI ports chief Marc Red Mariñas and 85 others.
"I especially would also like to express my fiercest gratitude to Dale Ignacio and Alex Chiong, whose testimonies have been critical in identifying Mariñas as the ringleader of the scheme. Hindi madali ang tumindig laban sa korapsyon at lumaban sa mga kriminal na nagsasamantala ng ating mga institusyon," she says.
She says, however, that the panel will dig deeper into what she says is "a festering pool of corruption in the BI, and potentially, in other institutions as well."
Hontiveros adds: "Naniniwala ako na may mas malalaking pangalan pa ang sangkot dahil sa laki, lawak, at lalim ng mga illegal business venture na ito na nakapalibot sa Visa Upon Arrival scheme at human trafficking ng mga Pilipina palabas ng Pilipinas."
"The six-month preventive suspension without pay imposed on 44 Bureau of Immigration personnel and officials involved in the 'pastillas' scam is a welcome and necessary development in our Senate investigation," Sen. Risa Hontiveros says.
She notes however that Jeffrey Dale Ignacio, a whistleblower in the Senate hearings on the alleged bribery scheme at the bureau, is among those suspended.
"I hope the Ombudsman can consider reversing this order against Dale as his testimony, which completed the picture of the corrupt system in the BI, has been invaluable in our Senate probe as well as the NBI’s own investigation."
She adds: "Nonetheless, I would like to thank Ombudsman Samuel Martires for acting on the results of our investigation, and I trust that his office will also go after the big fish — including those who are no longer in the BI and cannot be the subject of preventive suspension."
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