Filtered By: Topstories
News

Officer bares names of Immigration execs allegedly in ‘pastillas’ scheme


An officer on Thursday identified the officials of the Bureau of Immigration involved in the "pastillas" bribery scheme which allowed the easy entry into the country of Chinese high-rollers in the country's casinos and workers in the Philippines offshore gaming operations.

Allison Chiong, Immigration Officer 1, told the Senate Committee on Women, Children, Family Relatiuons and Gender Equality that he was the source of the video showing officers facilitating the immigration process for Chinese POGO workers at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport. 

Chiong named the current and former immigration officials involved in the bribery scheme as Traffic Control Enforcement Unit officers Bien Guevarra, Glenn Comia, and Den Binsol.

He said these officials were under Ports Operation Division Chief Red Mariñas.

Chiong said other groups in on the scheme were headed by different personalities within the BI such as Totoy Magbuhos, Deon Albao alias Nancy, Paul Borja alias Lisa, Anthony Lopez alias AL, and Dennis Robles DR.

“Ten percent na lang ang hindi kasama sa modus,” Chiong said.

Earlier in the day, President Rodrigo Duterte relieved immigration officials and employees allegedly linked to the scheme in which Chinese nationals are escorted through the immigration process in exchange for an thousands of pesos each.

Duterte’s spokesperson Salvador Panelo said the President made the decision after he received reports about the alleged money-making scheme. Panelo did not name the officials and employees.

In his affidavit, read during the hearing, Chiong said as a front line immigration officer assigned at Ninoy Aquino International Airport, he personally witnessed various illegal transactions over the years involving extortion of money.

He said the Department of Justice’ removal of the overtime pay of immigration officers in 2012 resulted to unrest and disgruntlement among the immigration workforce. He said this was when the offering of VIP services started.

“To cope with the substantial deduction of their salaries, some immigration officers decided to officer VIP services for immigrants who are casino high-rollers. This VIP service involved immigration officers accepting P2,000 for each high rollers in exchange for the latter’s convenient and seamless immigration,” Chiong said.

He said sensing the lucrative operation, Guevarra, Comia, and Binsol, who were then under former Ports Operation Division chief Red Mariñas, decided to take over the operation.

“They took control of the collections from entering and departing passengers then disbursed commissions at the end of every week,” he said.

He said in 2017, he started to notice the increase of Chinese nationals entering the Philippines, around 2,000 a day.

He said immigration officers received, through Viber, a list of names of Chinese nationals who were to be allowed to enter the Philippines without going through the usual immigration process.

“These Chinese nationals were no longer required to undergo screening, they were simply let inside the Philippines without question or investigation,” he said.

“Para sa Chinese, hahanapan ‘yan ng return ticketl second, ‘yung hotel booking or place to stay; third, ‘yung  itinerary; fourth, proof of financial capacity,” he added.

Chiong said the Viber group was deleted when National Bureau of Investigation probed the Bureau of Immigration airport operations.

“To avoid detection, the names of the Chinese nationals who were to be allowed VIP treatment were no longer sent through Viber," Chiong said.

"To circumvent this, the flow of operations changed: the immigration officers at the counter were asked to bring each Chinese national to the  holding area of TCEU and a member of the TCEU would then check the name with the master list,” he added.

He said if the name was on the list, the Chinese national would be allowed entry without further screening or profiling.

Chiong said the new scheme caused immigration officers inconvenience since they had to stand up, leave their seats, then lead each arriving Chinese nationals to the holding area every day.

He said other syndicated groups within the BI started submitting their own list of names of Chinese nationals.

“These groups worked with travel agencies in China, being the origin of the names of the entering foreign nationals. The syndicate would often compete with each other to gain favor from the Chinese travel agencies,” he added.

He said the groups were headed by Magbuhos, Albao, Borja, Lopez, and Robles.

“They occupy various plantilla positions within the Burea. Gueverra, Comia, and Binsol, despite being no longer with the Bureau, still maintain their syndicate group’s operations,” Chiong said.

Chiong said he noticed that Chinese nationals who fit the profile of an employee for a Philippine Online Gambling Operator (POGO) company enter the country with a tourist visa applied for with the Philippine consulates.

He said each cooperating immigration officer would receive around P20,000 weekly for NAIA Terminal 1 and P8,000 weekly for Terminal 3 duties. —NB, GMA News

LOADING CONTENT