83 BI personnel suspended over pastillas scheme

MANILA, Philippines — The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) has secured a six-month preventive suspension of all Bureau of Immigration (BI) personnel being investigated by the Office of the Ombudsman over the pastillas scheme.

Ombudsman Samuel Martires preventively suspended 83 Immigration personnel as they face investigation for graft for allegedly allowing the unchecked entry of Chinese into the country in exchange for bribes.

The Nov. 19 ombudsman order covered the suspension of 39 BI personnel while an earlier Oct. 26 order suspended 44 others.

The ombudsman said there is “strong evidence” of the guilt of BI personnel, who have been charged with grave misconduct, gross dishonesty and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service.

The Ombudsman said NBI probers supported the case with documentary and testimonial evidence to prove that the respondents received bribes from Chinese nationals and divided it among themselves by wrapping the money in bond paper, making it look like the milk candy pastillas.

Meanwhile, Martires has denied the NBI’s request to discharge immigration officer Jeffrey Dale Ignacio as state witness, saying there is no sufficient justification to grant him immunity this early in the case.

In his testimony to the NBI, Ignacio said as many as 90 percent of the BI frontliners at the airports were involved in the pastillas scheme, wherein they earned P5,000 to P20,000 every one or two weeks.

Ignacio also blew the lid about the meetings involving former Port Operations Division chief Marc Red Mariñas and the syndicate’s insider – NBI legal assistance section chief Joshua Paul Capiral – about building a common defense in the NBI’s probe.

Capiral and his brother, immigration officer Christopher Capiral, were arrested in an NBI entrapment operation for allegedly demanding money from Ignacio in exchange for dropping the case.

The Capiral brothers were separately charged with robbery-extortion and graft.