The Office of the Ombudsman is also involved in the so-called “pastillas scam,” another whistleblower claimed in yesterday’s Senate hearing on the modus at the Bureau of Immigration (BI) that allowed Chinese workers to pay bribes to enter the country illegally.
During the hearing of the Senate Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations and Gender, whistleblower Jeffrey Dale Ignacio accused former BI deputy commissioner Marc Red Mariñas as one of the masterminds of the multibillion-peso scam.
This, committee chair Senator Risa Hontiveros said, bolstered her assertion about a “festering pool of corruption” within the bureau.
The committee's vice chair, Senator Imee Marcos, also cited in contempt four personalities linked to the modus after they snubbed the body's subpoena to appear as resource persons.
The four include Mariñas and his father, Maynardo Mariñas, who headed the BI's Special Operations and Communications Unit, and Immigration officers Totoy Magbuhos and Danieve Binsol.
Meanwhile, lawyer Emeterio Dongallo, chief of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Special Action Unit, told the hearing that more than 40 individuals are set to be charged for their involvement in the scam, called "pastillas" for the grease money rolled up in paper like the local milk candy.
Dongallo said those who will be charged by the NBI in relation to the scam will "definitely exceed the original 40 or 41 persons as previously reported."
Ignacio, one of the 19 BI officials charged on Sept. 2 by the NBI on their alleged involvement in the scam, said that in one of the meetings he attended with other BI officials subpoenaed by the NBI, Mariñas reportedly said that they “have a contact in the Ombudsman."
Hontiveros pressed Ignacio if he knew about Mariñas' contact with the Ombudsman, and also asked if someone in the anti-graft office was involved in the corruption at the BI.
“This revelation is worrying and the NBI should look into this immediately,” the senator said.
Also during the hearng, Ignacio shared screenshots of text messages, including one from another immigration officer, Fahad Calaca, who texted that "sir Red" (referring to Mariñas) would help come up with the P100,000 bribe needed to pay an NBI insider who could supposedly clear Ignacio and others of charges.
“During our last hearing, we did confirm that NBI’s legal assistance chief, Atty. Joshua Paul Capiral, was caught accepting bribes to exclude certain BI officials from being prosecuted,” Hontiveros said.
“Many have talked and revealed the truth. The masterminds of pastillas”• only their foot soldiers were arrested because that was only the personal knowledge of our whistleblower Alex Chiong. And Dale Ignacio spoke today to prove the involvement of masterminds in the BI corruption,” the senator said.
The senator added that Ignacio’s testimony not only identified the masterminds behind the "pastillas" operations, it also showed how Mariñas and his team tried to “obstruct justice and thwart accountability before this committee and before the court of law.”
“The mastermind can no longer evade his links in the corruption at the BI. This corruption left our borders unchecked, which led to Chinese criminals easily setting foot in our country and abusing our women and children,” the senator said.
Hontiveros had also led the Senate inquiry into the rise of Chinese nationals working for Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators and its link to prostitution and trafficking in the country.
“The NBI said the investigations will still continue. Many corrupt people will still be caught. New sources are revealing new information. The walls are closing in on all these corrupt officials.
The truth will eventually come out. It’s not a matter of if, but when,” she said.
In the same hearing, Senator Christopher "Bong" Go warned of stern consequences for corrupt officials who are linked to the scam.
“To those involved in anomalies at the BI, don't wait until you are forced to eat that money, that 'pastillas,' which you extorted," Go said.
Go is pushing for the passage of Senate Bill No. 1649, which seeks to modernize the BI by introducing reforms to improve its productivity.`