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Hontiveros: Chinese nationals get VIP treament in Immigration for Php10,000

Senator Risa Hontiveros has exposed a scheme by Immigration officials treating Chinese nationals if they pay Php10,000.
Hontiveros, who is also the chairperson of the Senate Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations and Gender Equality, said Chinese nationals who pay ₱10,000 as “service fee” or grease money are given special treatment as they enter the Philippines.
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Hontiveros showed in a senate hearing some Viber screenshots of a group chat of immigration officers where long lists of names of foreigners are sent each day.
Once the Chinese national arrives, the immigration officer on duty would leave his booth and will process their passports.
The scheme brought about Php1 billion pesos based on 2,000 Chinese citizens entering per day.
Hontiveros said that that six people will share the Php2,000 and a third of it will be given to the Immigration officer on duty.
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The operation is called ‘pastillas’ because the money is hidden in rolled bond papers.
Chinese companies then will provide meals to the officers after successful payouts.
Immigration officials denied Hontiveros’ claims, and said that they were not aware of the scheme.

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