(Eagle News) — The masterminds of the pastillas scam, the visa-upon-arrival “business model”, and other corruption schemes at the Bureau of Immigration have pocketed a total of P40 billion since 2017, according to Senator Risa Hontiveros.
In a statement, Hontiveros said the masterminds of the controversial pastillas scam and other questionable transactions are earning as much as P30 billion by facilitating the entry of Chinese nationals into the country. She said that they are also earning another P10 billion through the Visa Upon Arrival (VUA) scheme.
“May nangungurakot sa bawat sulok ng Bureau of Immigration (BI). Sa ‘pastillas’ scam, ang estimate natin ay natabo ng mga mastermind na nito ay P30 billion, that’s based on the arrival data of Chinese nationals na non-VUA. Sa VUA naman, another revenue stream, the kickbacks go straight into the pockets of some officials,” Hontiveros said.
According to the figures provided by the bureau, there were some four million Chinese nationals who have entered the country since 2017.
Hontiveros said that these numbers were “staggering.”
“For the sake of comparison, four million Chinese nationals arriving here since 2017 is comparable to more than the entire population of Quezon City. Kumbaga, bakit mas marami pa sa mga residente ng QC ang bilang ng Chinese na pinapapasok sa bansa?” Hontiveros said.
She said that around 3.8 million were non-VUA applicants, and estimated that around 3 million of these were believed to have paid the extra P10,000 service fee in the pastillas scam.
“Sa Pastillas, ang pera pumapasok sa airport, tapos sa mga IO (Immigration Officer) pinapamigay. Bago siya mag resign, si Red Mariñas ang in charge bilang chief ng Ports Operations Division (POD),” Hontiveros said.
Meanwhile, when it comes to the questionable VUA transactions, the bribe allegedly goes straight to the main office, where the visas are approved.
“Sa VUA, diretso sa main office. Bago siya mag retire, si Maynardo Mariñas, ang ama ni Red, ang in charge dito bilang head ng Special Operations Communications Unit (SOCU), which checks and audits the VUAs. Tiba-tiba ang pamilyang Mariñas, pero nanatili pa din na tanong ay: sino ang protector nila?” the senator said, as she continues to search for the ‘big fish’ behind the systematic corruption in the bureau.
Both Red Mariñas and his father Meynardo have surfaced in the Senate hearing on Tuesday, Oct. 20, but denied being behind the corruption scheme.
Previous witnesses Alex Chiong and Dale Ignacio have linked Red Mariñas to the pastillas scheme.
“Sa Pastillas, ang pera pumapasok sa airport, tapos sa mga IO (Immigration Officer) pinapamigay. Bago siya mag resign, si Red Mariñas ang in charge bilang chief ng Ports Operations Division (POD),” Hontiveros said.
(Eagle News Service)
