‘Pastillas’ execs lose appeal at CA

MANILA, Philippines — The Court of Appeals (CA) has affirmed the Office of the Ombudsman’s 2021 decision finding Bureau of Immigration (BI) officials guilty of grave misconduct over the “pastillas” bribery scheme.

“Overall, the testimonies … to the Court constitute reasonable and substantial grounds to believe that Albao, Binsol, Mendoza and Naniong were part of and were involved in the pastillas scheme,” the CA Fifth Division wrote in its 27-page decision promulgated last week.

The 2021 decision of the ombudsman found Traffic Control and Enforcement Unit members Deon Carlo Albao, Danieve Binsol, Fidel Mendoza and Chevy Chase Naniong guilty of grave misconduct and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of government service.

They were among the 18 BI employees dismissed from service by the Department of Justice last year for managing the scheme at the airport.

The CA lowered to six months the sentence of Senior Immigration Officer Grifton Medina, finding him guilty only of neglect of duty for failing to act on the corrupt practices of his subordinates.

“The dismissal of the charge for grave misconduct does not mean that Medina is off the hook. The lack of direct evidence to implicate him as one of the ‘bosses’ or direct perpetrator of the pastillas scheme would not necessarily result in the dismissal of the administrative charge against him,” the decision read.

The “pastillas” bribery scheme is a reference to a local delicacy rolled in white paper.

When the scheme was exposed in 2020, authorities found that immigration officers were receiving bribes as high as P10,000 per passenger.

The bribes were rolled in white paper to make it look like pastillas.

The ombudsman filed graft charges against 43 BI personnel tagged in the scheme.

The Senate suspected the scheme was also used for sex trafficking and Philippine offshore gaming operator workers entering the country.