SOME of the personnel of Bureau of Immigration who were said to be involved in the pastillas scam as screen grabbed from the surveillance video of National Bureau of Investigation and Senator Risa Hontiveros FB page.
THE 18 Bureau of Immigration personnel linked in the controversial pastillas scam have been dismissed from service, said the Department of Justice (DOJ).
In a resolution released Friday, the DOJ said the immigration officers and employees were found administratively liable for grave misconduct, gross neglect of duty, and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service.
“They facilitated or allowed the facilitation of the arrival and/or departure of Chinese nationals, without undergoing appropriate immigration formalities, for a consideration,” the agency said in a statement.
The 18 respondents have been meted the penalty of dismissal from the service, with the imposition of the proper accessory penalties.
The personnel of the “pastillas” scam allegedly allowed Chinese citizens into the country in exchange for at least P10,000 grease money was supposedly rolled in bond paper, like the “pastillas” delicacy. The Chinese nationals then would work in POGOs.
The BI respondents personnel ordered dismissed from service include the following:
Francis Dennis Robles
Glen Ford Comia
Rodolfo Magbuhos, Jr.
Deon Carlo Albao
Danieve Binsol
Paul Erik Borja
Abdul Fahad Calaca
Anthony Lopez
Gabriel Ernest Estacio
Chevy Chase Naniong
Danilo Deudor
Ralph Ryan Garcia
Phol Villanueva
Fidel Mendoza
Benlando Guevarra
Bradford Allen So
Cecille Jonathan Orozco
Erwin Ortañez
Former BI deputy commissioner Marc Red Mariñas and former BI port operations division chief Grifton Medina were not among those dismissed from service. They have been charged by the Ombudsman with graft before the Sandiganbayan.
Justice Assistant Secretary Neal Bainto said Mariñas and Medina were not among those probed by the fact-finding investigation committee because both were included in the Ombudsman complaint.
Bainto further clarified that Mariñas has resigned.
