MANILA – Former Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre has been tagged as a protector of the so-called “pastillas” bribery scheme that allows the unimpeded entry of Chinese tourists into the country, a Senate inquiry revealed Monday.
This was revealed by columnist Ramon Tulfo, citing information from whistleblower Allison “Alex” Chiong, during the Senate Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations and Gender Equality inquiry on Monday.
Tulfo claimed that Aguirre was the “protector” of the illegal scheme that allowed Chinese nationals to pay their way for easy entry to the Philippines.
“Siya po ang protector ng sindikato base sa ni-report sa akin ni Mr. Chiong,” said Tulfo, who first made the revelation on the scheme in his column last year.
Tulfo also said that Aguirre received kickbacks from the scheme via a chartered helicopter, which is used to send cold cash from Manila to his province in Mulanay, Quezon.
In a statement sent to the media on Monday afternoon, Aguirre denied protecting the pastillas scheme and has filed libel charges against Tulfo for his writeup.
“The charges of Ramon Tulfo are an absolute lie and a complete fabrication of Tulfo,” Aguirre said. “For repeating these falsities, I will write the Senate committee of Senator Hontiveros to invite me and Tulfo if there is any future hearing so I could refute them and tell Tulfo to his face that he is liar.”
Meanwhile, Marc Red Mariñas, who was earlier accused by Chiong as one of the men behind the “pastillas” scheme, denied the allegation against him.
However, Senate committee chair Senator Risa Hontiveros said that the evidences against him, including the statements from Chiong, belied his denial.
Mariñas also claimed that the video presented by Chiong to supposedly expose the scheme was taken with malice.
“An ordinary, innocent standard procedure in the course of primary inspection of arriving passengers was twisted to suit his intention of passing it to the committee as evidence of corruption,” Mariñas said.
A department order issued by Aguirre in August 2017 gave Mariñas the authority over the issuance and review of applications for visa upon arrival, which is a special arrangement for Chinese nationals.
Under the “pastillas” scheme revealed by Chiong, an immigration officer, Chinese nationals pay P10,000 as “service fee” or grease money as they enter the Philippines.
Chiong earlier said that only P2,000 paid by each foreigner goes to immigration officers, while the remainder is split among the foreign tour operator, its partner in the Philippines, and the syndicate running the entire ploy at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.
The money was initially paid out rolled inside a sheet of bond paper, similar to how the milk candy is packed./PN
