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'Nothing irregular' in 'pastillas scheme' video, BI officials tagged in modus say

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Katrina Domingo, ABS-CBN News

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2020/news/02/17/20200217-bribery-sceme.jpg"/><figcaption>Photo shows how &quot;pastillas&quot; were distributed among Immigration officials. Courtesy of Sen. Risa Hontiveros</figcaption></figure></div>MANILA - A video showing Chinese nationals entering a &quot;back office&quot; in the Philippines&#x27; main airport instead of going through usual immigration gates was &quot;twisted,&quot; one of the officials tagged in the alleged irregularity said Monday.Speaking at a Senate inquiry into the so-called &quot;pastillas&quot; bribery scheme, former Immigration deputy commissioner Marc Red Mariñas said the video was distorted to make it appear that corruption was rampant among immigration officials.Immigration officer Allison &quot;Alex&quot; Chiong earlier presented to the Senate panel a video backing his allegation that several immigration officials have been accepting grease money from Chinese nationals arriving in the country as tourists but eventually working in the Philippine offshore gaming industry.Mariñas is accused of overseeing the alleged scheme, named after a Philippine milk-based candy wrapped in bond paper. Chiong alleged the grease money is also rolled under a bond paper cover.Chinese nationals allegedly pay additional P10,000 to be able to enter the Philippines as tourists, and then later on, take on jobs in offshore gaming firms. The money is purportedly divided among Philippine immigration officers, and Chinese and Philippine travel agencies.&quot;The video was clearly taken with malice to make it appear that VIP (Very Important Person) treatment is accorded to Chinese nationals in exchange of money,&quot; Mariñas said.&quot;It was an innocent standard procedure... twisted to suit his (Chiong&#x27;s) intention of passing it to committee to pass it as evidence of corruption,&quot; he added.Immigration officer Chevy Chase Naniong, who appeared on the video apparently checking a list of names before giving a Chinese national a pass to enter the country, also belied Chiong&#x27;s allegations.&quot;Sa video, nagco-conduct kami ng secondary inspections. Ang secondary inspector, binibigyan po kami ng power to decide kung hindi madedesisyunan ng primary inspector within 45 seconds [kung papapasukin ang turista],&quot; Naniong said.(In the video, we are conducting secondary inspections. We, secondary inspectors, are given the power to decide if the primary inspector cannot decide within 45 seconds whether a tourist can be allowed entry.)&quot;&#x27;Yung listahan po, hindi ko po exactly maalala ano iyon kasi iba-iba po ang listahan na hawak namin. Merong pong tour groups, delegates, at iba pa,&quot; he said, noting that these lists were part of standard operating procedure.(I cannot exactly remember what list I was checking in that video, because we handle different lists. There are lists for tour groups, for delegates, and others.)Sen. Risa Hontiveros, who chairs the Senate panel, asked Naniong why, as caught on video, he warned his colleagues to be careful about cellphones in light of possible unannounced inspections.But Naniong simply replied it is because there is an existing order for them not to look at their cellphones.<div>&#x27;100 PERCENT SURE&#x27;</div>But Chiong said he was &quot;100 percent sure&quot; that Mariñas, Naniong and other officials he earlier identified were involved in the &quot;pastillas&quot; modus.&quot;One hundred percent sure, based on personal knowledge,&quot; Chiong said.&quot;Kaming mga nasa frontline, kaming mga foot soldiers, may listahan... Wala akong direct contact sa kanila pero alam &#x27;yan ng lahat... May mga ledger &#x27;yan, may mga listahan &#x27;yan sa mga laptop nila, sa mga cellphone nila,&quot; he said.(We in the front line, the foot soldiers, have lists... I don&#x27;t have direct contact with them but everybody knows... They have ledgers, they have lists in their laptops, in their cellphones.)Chiong admitted he had no direct contact to high-ranking immigration officials, saying they usually just call the ground operations office when they need to &quot;redeem&quot; a Chinese national.Some Chinese nationals are stopped at immigration gates and held for some time so that high-ranking officials can extort more money from them, Chiong said.It is called the &quot;tubos system&quot; (redeeming system) because Chinese operators need to pay another P10,000 to &quot;redeem&quot; Chinese nationals stopped at border control gates, he said.&quot;May tatawag na boss sa baba para sabihin na, &#x27;Natubos na yung pasahero,&#x27;&quot; he said.(A boss will call on the ground to say, &#x27;The passenger has been redeemed.&#x27;)Mariñas and other implicated officials belied they were also part of this separate illegal scheme.<div>LIFESTYLE CHECK</div>Hontiveros said the Senate panel will request a lifestyle check on immigration officials allegedly involved in the &quot;pastillas&quot; scheme, noting that a security guard who served as Mariñas&#x27; staff had assets worth up to P9 million, based on his Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN).Fidel Mendoza, who earned some P31,000 monthly, managed to have some P9 million in assets, Hontiveros said.While Mendoza&#x27;s SALN is questionable, Mariñas&#x27; similar document &quot;mysteriously&quot; disappeared from the Bureau of Immigration&#x27;s records office, the senator said.Several immigration personnel have been relieved from their posts while the agency&#x27;s leadership ordered a probe on the allegation.The Senate has been conducting investigations on the impact of the influx of Chinese nationals to the crime situation in the country, including sex trafficking, corruption and money laundering.Hontiveros earlier presented a teenage Filipina who was a victim of a Chinese-operated prostitution den, and another Taiwanese national who was a victim of trafficking in a Philippine Offshore Gaming Operations firm in the country.The Philippines forged friendlier relations with China since President Rodrigo Duterte assumed office in 2016.

A video showing Chinese nationals entering a "back office" in the Philippines' main airport instead of going through usual immigration gates was "twisted," one of the officials tagged in the alleged irregularity said Monday.

A video showing Chinese nationals entering a "back office" in the Philippines' main airport instead of going through usual immigration gates was "twisted," one of the officials tagged in the alleged irregularity said Monday.

'Nothing irregular' in 'pastillas scheme' video, BI officials tagged in modus say

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'Nothing irregular' in 'pastillas scheme' video, BI officials tagged in modus say

Katrina Domingo,

ABS-CBN News

Published Mar 02, 2020 03:14 PM PHT

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corruption

Senate

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