Senator Risa Hontiveros said that the alleged masterminds of the so-called ‘pastillas scam’ at the Bureau of Immigration are also involved in the human trafficking case in Syria.
This revelation came during the Senate committee on women, children, family relations, and gender equality hearing.
The same scam was also used by BI officials to scam money from Chinese workers in the POGO industry.
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“Same cast of characters, different crime. Habang nagpapasok sila ng mga kriminal na Chinese sa Pilipinas, pinapalabas naman nila ng bansa papunta sa kapahamakan ang ating mga kababaihan. Our women are abused in ways that approach crimes against humanity,” Hontiveros said.
BI Commissioner Jaime Morente named the 4 immigration officers who were confirmed to have stamped the passports of at least 4 OFWs who were trafficked to Syria: Mark Darwin Talha, Nerissa Pineda, John Michael Angeles, and Ervin Ortañez.
Investigation showed that the Angeles and Ortanez are related to the masterminds behind the pastillas scam.
Ortañez is the son of Erwin Ortañez, who was the overall Travel Control Enforcement Unit head when Marc Red Mariñas – allegedly the “godfather” of the “pastillas” scheme.
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Angeles was part of the more than 80 respondents on the cases filed by the National Bureau of Investigation.
The senator also flashed screenshots of Viber conversations from “pastillas” scam whistleblower Alex Chiong. The OFWs said that these BI officials earned Php50,000 by trafficking them.
Morente said that the immigration officials are now part of the ongoing internal investigation.
“Nahihiya ako. I am really frustrated and disappointed about the involvement of BI officials in these nefarious activities. But I am thankful that they are exposed because they give the bureau a bad name,” said Morente. (TDT)
