MANILA, Philippines — The National Bureau of Investigation filed on Thursday the second batch of graft complaints against officials and personnel of the Bureau of Immigration over the “pastillas” scheme.
ABS-CBN reported that 86 employees and senior officials of the Immigration are facing raps before the Office of the Ombudsman.
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The filing of the NBI’s second batch of complaints coincided with the announcement of BI that it will be implementing a one-strike policy with its erring officials. This means that personnel subject of complaints and investigations shall be relieved immediately.
BI spokesperson Dana Sandoval told reporters that they have yet to receive a copy of the complaint by the NBI but “if there are names included there that haven’t been relieved yet, then we will immediately implement their relief.”
The Ombudsman late in October placed 44 Immigration officials and personnel under six months preventive suspension without pay over their alleged involvenment in the “pastillas” scheme.
Second whistleblower
NBI Special Action Unit chief Emetrio Dongallo Jr. earlier said the testimony of Immigration Officer Jeffrey Dale Ignacio, the second whistleblower in the “pastillas” scheme controversy, helped investigators to form the “entire picture” of corruption racket.
He had also corroborated the testimony of IO Allison Chiong, the first whistleblower in the case.
Ignacio, in his testimony before the Senate, accused former POD chief Marc Red Mariñas of being the “ringleader” of the bribery scheme, an allegation that the former BI official denied.
The NBI said Ignacio applied to the Department of Justice’s Witness Protection Program but as of October 28, results of his application have yet to be released.
Ignacio is one of the 19 Immigration officers named as respondents in the first batch of complaints the NBI filed early in September. — Kristine Joy Patag