Graft charges have been filed with the Sandiganbayan against the “bosses" and "suppliers" allegedly involved in the controversial “pastillas scheme” for giving “very important person” treatment to 143 foreigners from 2017 to 2020 at P10,000 each or a total of P1.43 million.
Charged by the Office of the Ombudsman (OMB) with violations of Section 3(e) of Republic Act No. 3019, the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, are:
Deputy Commissioner Marc Red A. Mariñas
Senior Immigration Officer Grifton San Pedro Medina
Senior Immigration Officer Erwin S. Ortañez
Senior Immigration Officer Glenn Ford S. Comia
Senior Immigration Officer Immigration Officer III Benlando "Bien" J. Guevarra
Senior Immigration Officer Immigration Officer III Danieve "Den" H. Binsol
Senior Immigration Officer Immigration Officer III Deon "Nancy" Carlo Garcia Albao
Senior Immigration Officer Immigration Officer III Arlan Edward D. Mendoza
Senior Immigration Officer Immigration Officer III Anthony "Al" D. Lopez
Senior Immigration Officer Cecille Jonathan P. Orozco
Supervising Immigration Officer Francis Dennis T. Robles
Immigration Officer III Bradford Allan L. So
Immigration Officer III Vincent Bryan Del Rosario Allas
Immigration Officer III Senior Immigration Officers Rodolfo "Totoy" I. Magbuhos Jr.
Immigration Officer III German T. Robin
Immigration Officer II Gabriel Ernest "Gabe" M. Estacio
Immigration Officers I Ralph Ryan "RG" M. Garcia
Immigration Officers I Phol "Vexana III" B. Villanueva
Immigration Officer III Abdul Fahad "Sharpedge Calaca" G. Calaca
Immigration Officer I Mark "Fakehappy" D. Macababbad
Immigration Officer III Aurelio Somera "Amboy" Lucero III
Immigration Officer III George V. Bituin
Immigration Officer III Salahudin F. Hadjinoor
Immigration Officer I Cherrypie "Chepie" P. Ricolcol
Immigration Officer II Chevy Chase R. Naniong
Immigration Officer I Carl Jordan C. Perez
Immigration Officer II Abdulhafez Dela Tonga Hadjbasher
Immigration Officer III Jeffrey Dale "Boss Nyefi" S. Ignacio
Immigration Officer I Clint John Q. Simene
Immigration Officer II Asliyah A. Maruhom
Immigration Officer I Maria Victoria C. Jogno
Immigration Officer II Paul Erik "Liza" C. Borja
Immigration Officer I Hamza U. Pacasum
Immigration Officer II Manuel B. Sarmiento III
Security Guard 2 Fidel Santoc Mendoza
Immigration Officer I Dimple Mahyumi R. Mallari
Gerrymyie "Gem" G. Franco
John Michael S. Angeles
Francis Meeka E. Flores
Sadruddin C. Usudan
John Kessler B. Cortez
Mohammad Sahary B. Lomondot
Jon Derrick Y. Go
Aira Garcia Inoue
Immigration Officer I Royan Rey S. Manlapas
Administrative Assistant VI Angelica B. Omampo
Administrative Assistant VI Yanni M. Hao
Administrative Assistant VI George Gilbert T. Ong
Administrative Assistant VI Cathy Devela Cu
Empire International Travel and Tours owner Liya Wu
The criminal charges stated:
“Bosses or Chinese suppliers acted as conduits between the travel agencies and the Immigration Officers manning the Immigration counters at NAIA Terminals 1 and 2. They receive a list of passenger names from travel agencies and cascade said list to the administrators of Viber chat groups.
"The Bosses or Chinese suppliers receive the regular pay-outs from travel agencies usually wrapped like the local candy pastillas and then caused the distribution of the shares to the different members of the pastillas scheme.”
Records of the Senate’s February 2020 investigation showed that the “pastillas scheme” reportedly perpetrated by some BI officers and employees allegedly “paved the way towards the unabated entry into the Philippines of Chinese nationals.”
The scheme was called “pastillas” because “the bribe money, serving as consideration for the illicit entry of the foreign national, was supposedly rolled up in a manner that resembles a pastillas de leche treat, a popular Filipino milk-based candy.”
The charges also stated that there is a so-called Mariñas Team that controlled the incoming passengers and distributed "commissions" to all members of the pastillas scheme. Included here are Mariñas, Guevarra, and A. Mendoza, with Mariñas as the head, the charges stated.
Based on the charges, Ortañez was one of the "bosses" who took over and controlled the pastillas scheme, and he was in charge of the receipt and distribution of proceeds of the scheme.
Despite having been transferred or reassigned to different BI offices, the "bosses" or "suppliers" still managed and controlled the modus through group chats called Timbre Central, 3SOME, TIGY DOROBO 10 COUNTERS, and TIGY Dropbox Station, the charges state.
The charges identified Comia, Binsoi, Albao, Robles, So, Magbuhos, Angeles, and Robin as "Bosses," while Lopez, Allas, Simene, Angeles, Usudan, Jogno, Cortez, and Orozco were named as "suppliers" for Timbre Central.
Also, the charges identified F. Mendoza as the bagman of Mariñas, while Mallari and Omampo were the bagmen of Comia.
The charges identified Hao, Ong, and Cu as Chinese interpreters who were among those who received shares in the pastillas scheme.
Wu was identified in the charges as "key player" in the scheme by providing a list of Chinese passengers who would like to get “very important person” treatment for a fee of P10,000 per passenger.