Syndicate behind ‘pastillas’ scheme linked to trafficking of Filipino women to Syria
MANILA, Philippines —The alleged masterminds behind the pastillas bribery scheme at the Bureau of Immigration have been linked to another racket — the outbound trafficking of Filipino women.
This comes after Sen. Risa Hontiveros, who chairs the Senate committee on women, last week said certain immigration officials receive P50,000 per Filipino trafficked out of the country, citing the personal account of one of the victims of a trafficking operation to Syria.
During the Senate panel hearing on the matter, Immigration Commissioner Jaime Morente named the immigration officers who stamped the passports of the four victims in contact with Hontiveros' office. They are:
- Mark Darwin Talha
- John Michael Angeles
- Nerissa Pineda
- Ervin Ortañez
Ortañez was flagged by Hontiveros as the son of Erwin Ortañez, the overall Travel Control and Enforcement Unit head at the BI under Ports Operation Divisions chief Marc Red Mariñas.
Mariñas is tagged as one of the alleged masterminds behind the pastillas scam.
Meanwhile, Angeles is currently on preventive suspension due to his alleged involvement in the racket, according to Morente.
The 'pastillas' bribery scheme was first uncovered in a legislative probe conducted by the same Senate committee early last year.
Under the racket, immigration officers allegedly received P10,000 in grease money, rolled in paper resembling the wrapper of the popular milk-based confection, for each Chinese national allowed to breeze through passport checks.
Hontiveros also showed chat screenshots furnished by one of the pastillas scam whistleblowers Alex Chiong, which showed a list of women to be trafficked out of the country signed off by a certain "FM." According to Chiong, Hontiveros said, "FM" stands for Fidel Mendoza, Mariñas' right-hand man.
"Mendoza's name has repeatedly been given by our whistleblowers as one of the suppliers of trafficked women. Same cast of characters, different crime."
"As they bring Chinese criminals into the Philippines, they are driving our women out of the country to ruin," Hontiveros added in Filipino.
A Washington Post report published on January 25 uncovered that dozens of Filipinos recruited to work in the United Arab Emirates were trafficked to Syria to work as domestic workers without their consent. The story also reveals that the migrant workers were at times denied pay and suffered physical and sexual abuse at the hands of their employers.
In response, Hontiveros called for a legislative probe on the matter and the Department of Foreign Affairs launched its own investigation on certain personnel of the Philippine Embassy in Syria for "poor treatment" Filipino trafficking victims while under temporary shelter.
Per the DFA's last update, 13 of the 38 trafficking victims housed by its embassy in Damascus have been repatriated. Three of the four witnesses in contact with Hontiveros are still in Syria.
'Abuse approaching crimes against humanity'
One of the trafficking victims, alias Diana, recounted her experience to senators, revealing that her employment agency forced her to undergo an abortion in Syria.
Diana said she was unaware that she was pregnant until she underwent a medical exam in Syria. She added that when she learned of her pregnancy, she requested to go home but was told by her recruiters that she needed to pay them back for the money they spent on her.
"I had no choice but to take Cytotec....because the agency was watching," she said in Filipino, referring to a drug known to cause miscarriage.
"After that, I just went to the doctor, and only a day had passed when I was sold to the employer. I was still bleeding and still in so much pain," she added in Filipino.
Diana added that she called the Philippine Embassy in Syria but received no help.
"'I'm going to die,' I told them. But they said the embassy couldn't easily go [to me] because they would be put in harm's way."
In response to Diana's testimony, Hontiveros noted that she and other victims of the scheme were "abused in ways that approach crimes against humanity."
"We need to crack down on the human trafficking operation in the Bureau of Immigration. This is an outright violation of the Anti Trafficking in Persons Act," the senator urged.
She further noted that the perpetrators of the scheme, if found guilty, will face a sentence of life imprisonment under the law.
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