Witness tags Mariñas as alleged 'ringleader' of pastillas scheme

An immigration officer who admitted to being a "foot soldier" of the "pastillas group" on Tuesday tagged former Bureau of Immigration (BI) official Marc Red Mariñas as the alleged leader of the scheme.

Jeffrey Dale Ignacio, an immigration officer 2, said at a Senate hearing that he and the other members of the "pastillas group" could not have operated without the "blessings" of higher-ups.

The pastillas scam is a scheme in which Chinese casino high-rollers and offshore gaming operation workers were allegedly allowed to skip the immigration process for a fee.

"Hindi naman po kami makakagalaw, kaming mga foot soldiers, kung wala pong basbas sa taas. Bale naiinstructan po kami ng mga admin, ta's meron din pong nag-iinstruct sa kanila, so 'yun po 'yung mga boss," Ignacio said.

He described the structure of the scheme as pyramid-like, with Mariñas allegedly at the top. A career immigration officer, Mariñas was deputy commissioner and former head of the Port Operations Division before he resigned to run as Muntinlupa mayor in the 2019 elections.

He had also served as a frontline immigration officer at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport for over a decade.

Mariñas has previously denied involvement in the pastillas scheme.

When asked by Senator Risa Hontiveros whether Mariñas is the "ringleader," Ignacio answered in the affirmative.

Ignacio also named the following officials: Fidel Mendoza, Mariñas' supposed right hand man; Erwin Ortanez, the overall head of the Travel Control and Enforcement Unit (TCEU) at NAIA; TCEU terminal heads Glennford Comia, Benlado Guevarra, and Denden Binsol; and their deputies Deon Carlo Albao, Arlan Mendoza, and Anthony Lopez.

Asked one by one by Hontiveros, however, Ortanez, Guevarra, Mendoza, Lopez, and several other immigration officers said they have no personal knowledge of the alleged scheme.

Appearing before the Senate for the first time, Ignacio corroborated the statement of the first whistleblower on the pastillas scheme, immigration officer Allison Chiong.

Ignacio said he was forced to join the pastillas group due to financial problems after immigration officers lost their augmentation or overtime pay in 2017.

"Totoo po ang naging salaysay ni Alex Chiong tungkol sa kalakaran sa Pastillas gang. Kapag ang pasahero ay nasa listahan na pinapadala sa Viber group chat, tatakan lang ito nang walang tanong tanong. Kumbaga, parang VIP," he said, reading from a written statement.

"Kapag wala naman sa listahan at may pagdududa, i-refer sa TCEU. Ite-check ng TCEU kung may magtutubos doon sa narefer na pasahero. At kapag naman po Chinese na hawak ay Visa Upon Arrival o VUA, automatic na 'yon na makakapasok na walang pagtatanong," he added.

He said "frontliners" like him earned P5,000 to P20,000 weekly or every two weeks.

Ignacio is one of the 19 BI personnel that the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) accused of graft in a complaint filed before the Office of the Ombudsman.

An NBI official and his brother, an immigration officer, face separate cases in court for allegedly extorting money from BI personnel in exchange for their exclusion from charges over the pastillas scheme.—AOL, GMA News