Opposition Senator Risa Hontiveros on Monday welcomed the swift action undertaken by the Bureau of Immigration (BI) against the 11 Chinese tourists who misrepresented their purpose of traveling to the country.

In a statement, Hontiveros said she is glad that her series of investigations on the "pastillas scam" has jolted the BI to take their roles as guardians of our borders more seriously.

‘’While the widespread corruption has made us more skeptical of the agency’s credibility, instances like this tell me that all is not lost,’’ Hontiveros said.

‘’Nonetheless, I remain vigilant. There are continued reports of officials in the bureau who are allegedly still in cahoots with Chinese nationals who illegally want to enter the country,’’ she added.

Hontiveros said some BI officers might continue to be an accomplice to the ‘mutated’ pastillas scam, in which each Chinese national pays P550,000 in bribe money, as NBI’s recent entrapment operation was inside the office of a BI official.

She vowed to investigate this new pastillas scam further.

‘’We will also clamp down on BI officials who allegedly lead the outbound trafficking of our own women. We have discovered new disturbing information, which we will reveal in the forthcoming Senate hearing of the Committee of Women, Children, Family Relations, and Gender Equality,’’ she added.

Hontiveros is chairwoman of that committee.

‘’As I’ve said time and again, I will not stop until we see the masterminds, the big fish of the pastillas scam behind bars. I will not stop until we are able to protect our women and children from all forms of abuse and exploitation,’’ she said.