THE Office of the Ombudsman on Monday filed a graft case before the Sandiganbayan against 51 individuals in connection to the illegal entry into the country of Chinese nationals between 2017 to 2020 by paying bribes to officers of the Bureau of Immigration (BI).
Former BI Port Operations Division deputy commissioner Marc Red Mariñas was the highest ranked public official among those who were charged.
He was tagged as the head of the group that started the “pastillas” scheme (pastillas is a dairy-based pastry, the wrapper of which resembles tightly a rolled bill handed as payment to immigration officers) to facilitate the easy entry of Chinese tourists and workers into the country.
Also indicted were BI officers Grifton Medina, Erwin Ortañez, Glenn “GC” Comia, Beniado “Bien” Guevarra, Danieve “Denden” Binsol, Deon Carlo “Nancy” Albao, Arlan Edward Mendoza, Anthony “Al” Lopez, Cecille Jonathan Orozco, Francis Dennis Robles, Bradford Allen Lim So, Vincent Bryan Alias (sic), Rodolfo “Totoy” Magbuhos Jr., ER German Robin, Gabriel Ernest “Gabe” Estacio, Ralph Ryan “RG” Garcia.
Phol “Vexana III” Villanueva, Abdul Fahad “Sharpedge Calaca” Calaca, Danilo Deudor, Mark “Fakehappy” Macabbabad, Aurelio “Amboy” Lucero III, George Bituin, Salahudin Hadjinoor, Cherrypie “Chepie” Ricolcol, Chevy Chase Naniong, Carl Jordan Perez, Abdulhafez “HB” Hadjibasher, Jeffrey Dale “Boss Nyefi” Ignacio, Clint John Simene, Asliyah Maruhom, Maria Victoria Jogno, Paul Erik “Liza” Borja, Hamza Pacasum.
Manuel Sarmiento III, Fidel Mendoza, Dimple Mahyumi Mallari, Gerrymyie “Gem” Franco, John Michael Angeles, Francis Meeka Flores, Sadruddin Usudan, John Kessler Cortez, Mohammad Sahary Lomondot, Jon Derrick Go, Aira Inoue, Rovan Ray Manlapas, Angelica Omampo, Yanni Hao, George Gilbert Ong, and Cathy Devela Cu.
The Ombudsman named Liya Wu, owner of Empire International Travel and Tours who reportedly conspired with the immigration personnel, as private defendant.
The group reportedly facilitated the entry of 143 foreign nationals, mostly Chinese, who each paid the bribe money of P10,000 per passenger through the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminals 1 and 2.
The Senate committee on women, children, family relations, and gender equality started an investigation into the scheme more than two years ago. The Senate earlier this year adopted the committee report recommending charges against the individuals allegedly involved in the pastillas bribery scheme.
Ombudsman investigators obtained transcripts of the exchanges of all involved BI personnel through their Viber Group chats titled Timbre Central, 3SOME, and TIGY DOROBO IO COUNTERS.
The group chat administrators allegedly provided the names of the foreign travelers who have paid the required sum and listed them as VIPs for seamless entry.
“The above acts of accused public officials thus allowed the entry of foreign passengers into the country without going through regular and stringent profiling or screening processes in violation of existing immigration rules and procedures,” the Ombudsman said.
Prosecutors recommended bail bonds amounting to P90,000 for each of the defendants.
Listed among the witnesses to be presented during trial are 10 agents of the National Bureau of Investigation’s Special Action Unit, the members of the Ombudsman’s Special Panel of Investigators, and immigration officer Allison Chiong who is currently under the Witness Protection Security and Benefit Program.
Sen. Risa Hontiveros, chairperson of the Senate panel that investigated the scheme, welcomed the filing of cases against those who were involved in scam.
“This shows that Senate Committee hearings can be a force for good, at puwede maging katuwang ng estado at law enforcement agencies para labanan ang katiwalian (and can be partners of the state and law enforcement agencies to fight graft). Our committee worked very closely with the DOJ, the NBI, the DSWD,” Hontiveros said.
“I do hope, however, that the good Ombudsman would take into consideration the fact that Jeffrey Dale Ignacio is a whistleblower whose testimony has been key in unearthing these findings. Pinasalamatan si Dale ng 18th Congress (The 18th Congress thanked Dale) in the committee report that I note was adopted unanimously by the Senate,” she added.
Ignacio was among those indicted by the Ombudsman.
Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said he would like to first get hold of the Ombudsman’s resolution “before I can make any comment.”
“The resolution of the separate administrative case is also forthcoming. Former deputy commissioner Marc Red Mariñas resigned from the BI in 2019… Yes, the DOJ conducted a parallel administrative investigation after a fact-finding inquiry by the BI, but the list of respondents in the administrative complaint is not the same set of respondents in the criminal complaint, which was submitted by the NBI to the OMB. It is the resolution of the administrative case that will determine the disciplinary action that may be taken against the respondents therein,” Guevarra said. — With Raymond Africa
