The Senate on Wednesday adopted the committee report that pushes for the filing of criminal charges against 27 current and former personnel of the Bureau of Immigration (BI) who were involved in the controversial bribery scheme that allowed the unabated entry of Chinese nationals to the Philippines.

The Senate adopted Committee Report No. 542, which was signed by 11 senators. It was Sen. Risa Hontiveros’ Senate Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations and Gender Equality that conducted the investigation into the so-called “pastillas” scheme.

The senator first exposed the modus in February 2020 where she presented a video of an immigration officer escorting Chinese nationals to one of the offices of the BI, seemingly validating the identity of Chinese nationals included in the list.

“Senate Resolution No. 131 was filed in the wake of continuous media reports on prostitution rings being busted by law enforcement agents. These prostitution rings were found to be serving a largely Chinese clientele, many or most of whom working in various POGO outfits,” Hontiveros said during her sponsorship speech of the measure.

Based on the report, two of the sources of corruption in the BI was the supposed kickbacks from the “pastillas” scheme, and the visa-upon-arrival (VUA) scheme. The amount allegedly totaled to P40-billion.

Also during the hearings, Hontiveros bared the existence of Viber group chats managed by BI personnel who are also the chat administrators.

Among the personalities whom the Senate panel recommended to be charged with criminal cases are Marc Red Marinas, Erwin Ortanez, Bienlado Guevara, Arlan Mendoza, Fidel Mendoza, Jonathan Orozcol, Grifton Medina, Glenn Ford Comia, Deon Carlo ALbao, Rodolfo Magbuhos, Anthony Lopez, Danieve Binsol, Dennis Robles, Bradford Allen So, Gabriel Etacio, Ralph Ryan Garcia, Phol Villanueva, Abdul Calaca, Danilo Deudor, Marc Macababad, Cherie Ricolcol, Abduhafez Hadjibasher, Amboy Lucero and George Bituin and Salahudin Hadjinoor.

Hontiveros said these personalities should be held liable for violations of RA No. 3019 or the Anti Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, without prejudice to other charges that may be levied against them including but not limited to violations of Republic Act No. 9208 or the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act and other special laws.

“I just want to clarify that the names are those who were mentioned during the hearings and corroborated by evidence presented to the Committee,” Hontiveros said.

“I know that the NBI and our law enforcement, with their superior investigating skills, are casting a wider net. I support their goal to prosecute those who must be held liable,” she stressed.

Likewise, the panel recommend the filing of criminal charges for failure to file their respective Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net worth (SALNs) in violation of Section 8 of R.A. No. 6713 against Danieve Binsol, Dimple Mahyumi Mallari, Marc Red Marinas, Maynardo Marinas, Grifton Medina, and Arlan Mendoza.

“Further, the Committee recommends that further investigation be conducted on the potential criminal liability of former Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre for issuing Executive Order No. 041 and his appointment of Marc Red Marinas, as he may reasonably be assumed to have known that the consequence of both actions would be to grant the father and son Mariñas near unfettered discretion over the entry of hundreds of thousands of Chinese individuals – not only a potential corruption and conflict of interest issue, but also a national security issue,” Hontiveros said.