Dispatch from Crame No. 1212:
Sen. Leila M. de Lima on the Committee Report on the Pastillas Scam

I congratulate Sen. Risa Hontiveros and my colleagues in the Senate on the filing of Committee Report No. 542 on the infamous "Pastillas Scam".

The Committee's findings were significant. The allegations that about 90% of the immigration officers are in on the scam show that there is an endemic, institutional and malignant culture of corruption in the Bureau of Immigration (BI). This allowed practically unregulated entry in our country by unwelcome foreigners for a fee.

Sa maraming pagkakataon, itong mga foreigners pa na pinalusot ang gumagawa ng krimen sa atin gaya ng pang-aabuso sa ating mga kababayan at human trafficking.

In spite of these damning revelations by witnesses, this administration remains unmoved, and to date has not done anything to solve this problem.

Ang pinakamalala pa, tuwirang sinabi ng mga testigo na si dating DOJ Sec. Vitaliano Aguirre ang tumayong protector at padrino ni Marc Red Mariñas na sinasabing ring leader o pangunahing nagpapatakbo ng scam sa BI. Nagmistulang inutil si BI Commissioner Morente dahil ang dating boss niya mismo ang pumipigil sa kaniya na aksyunan ang mga kalokohang nangyayari sa kaniyang opisina.

Hindi gaya ng mga pekeng imbestigasyon laban sa akin, malinaw ang pagtukoy sa posibleng kaso laban kina Aguirre at sa mga tauhan niya sa BI.

Committee's investigation was methodical, thorough and ultimately effective in ferreting out the truth behind the scam that compromised our border control and allowed trafficking and prostitution to happen.

I call on my colleagues to adopt this Report at the soonest possible opportunity so that our country will know that this Senate did not stand idly by while corruption pervades in this government.

Tumindig po tayo lagi laban sa korapsyon.

(Access the handwritten version, here: https://issuu.com/senatorleilam.delima/docs/dispatch_1212)