18 BI personnel sacked over ‘pastillas’ scheme

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Justice (DOJ) yesterday dismissed 18 officers and employees of the Bureau of Immigration (BI) allegedly involved in the “pastillas” scheme.

DOJ Assistant Secretary Neal Bainto identified the BI personnel as Francis Dennis Robles, Glen Ford Comia, Rodolfo Magbuhos Jr., Deon Carlo Albao, Danieve Binsol, Paul Erik Borja, Abdul Fahad Calaca, Anthony Lopez, Gabriel Ernest Estacio, Chevy Chase Naniong, Danilo Deudor, Ralph Ryan Garcia, Phol Villanueva, Fidel Mendoza, Benlando Guevarra, Bradford Allen So, Cecille Jonathan Orozco and Erwin Ortañez.

“The 18 respondents have been meted the penalty of dismissal from service, with the imposition of the proper accessory penalties,” Bainto told reporters in a Viber message yesterday afternoon.

Bainto said the DOJ, in a resolution, found the 18 BI personnel administratively liable for grave misconduct, gross neglect of duty and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service for allegedly facilitating or allowing the facilitation of the arrival or departure of Chinese nationals without undergoing appropriate immigration formalities “for a consideration,” the DOJ said.

The payoff was reportedly wrapped in bond paper and rolled like a pastillas, a type of candy.

The administrative case before the DOJ was recommended by the Fact-Finding Investigation Committee (FFIC), formed by the BI to investigate the scheme.

Bainto clarified that Deputy Commissioner Marc Red Mariñas and Senior Immigration Officer Grifton Medina “were not among those investigated” by the FFIC, but stressed that they were included in the complaint filed by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) before the Office of the Ombudsman.

Asked why Mariñas and Medina were not dismissed, Bainto said Mariñas had resigned before the resolution came out while Medina was included in a separate administrative complaint filed by the NBI with the ombudsman.

“The initial probe of the FFIC included the respondents already mentioned. The NBI then conducted a wider investigation, which led to the filing of administrative and criminal complaints before the ombudsman,” he said.

The ombudsman filed graft charges against 43 BI personnel tagged in the pastillas scheme, which the Senate investigated on suspicions that it was used for sex trafficking and letting Philippine offshore gambling operations workers into the country.