Hontiveros bares alleged bribery scheme at Bureau of Immigration

MANILA, Philippines — Officials within the Bureau of Immigration were called "traitors to the country," Monday, by Sen. Risa Hontiveros for operating of an alleged modus operandi to get foreign nationals in the Philippines in exchange for money.

Through the supposed "pastillas" scheme, officials within the agency ensure "seamless entry" of Chinese nationals into the country for a 10,000-peso "service fee."

Hontiveros said it was named after the milk-based candy after photos from a whistleblower exposed the said cash distributions. 

"I asked why it's called pastillas. Before, there were no envelopes and that’s why they rolled it on a bond paper like a pastillas," she said in Filipino.

The new controversy was bared in a committee hearing on Monday looking into the link between the boom of Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators and prostitution and sex trafficking in the country.

During the hearing, Hontiveros played a video that showed Chinese nationals being escorted by an immigration officer to the BI’s inner office, seemingly validating the Chinese national's identity against a list with a supervisor.

"Why do Chinese nationals have VIP escorts when coming into our country?" Hontiveros said.

"Don’t make a fool out of the people. That is not a standard procedure."

A number of Chinese and Taiwanese nationals rescued by members of the National Bureau of Investigation have been trafficked into the country, with one Taiwanese woman who approached Hontiveros' office saying in a press briefing that she did not know she would end up at a "sex den."

P1-B in kickbacks?

From the P10,000 service fee, only P2,000 is said to have trickled down to airport immigration, prompting questions where the remaining P8,000 went.

In the last hearing, the BI said that around 1.8 million Chinese nationals have entered the Philippines in recent years, slightly higher than the 2019 data released by Department of Tourism on Monday.

Around 1.74 million tourists from said country travelled to the Philippines in the past year.

"If we say that 1 million are coming inside the country using the ‘pastillas’ system, P1 billion is paid for kickback," Hontiveros also said. — Philstar.com intern Cody Perez