SPONSORSHIP SPEECH OF SENATOR RISA HONTIVEROS ON
COMMITTEE REPORT NO. 542 (PASTILLAS SCAM)
February 02, 2022

VIDEO LINK: https://drive.google.com/file/d/12AsaXv98X-XID3WRv3Q-x0qYAUw78fHb/view?

Mr. President,

Today, the Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations and Gender Equality writes finis to more than two years of investigation on what we now know as the pastillas scam.

Mr. President, nagsimula ang imbestigasyon na ito, simple lang ang aming pakay. Senate Resolution No. 131 was filed in the wake of continuous media reports on prostitution rings being busted by law enforcement agents. These prostitution rings were found to be serving a largely Chinese clientele, many or most of whom working in various POGO outfits. Proteksyon ng mga kababaihan at kabataan ang aming pakay. Dalawang taon rin ang inabot natin imbestigasyong ito, dahil kada salang natin ay may natutuklasan tayong bagong ebidensya. Let us take a look back at the series of events that led us here. Maiksing video lang po ito.

We were already surprised by the extent of the evidence. Nakakuha kami ng screen shots mula sa WeChat na app, kung saan ang mga kababaihan ay hinahambing sa kotse o sa tsaa. Gaya ng nakita natin sa video, nalaman din namin na hindi lang mga babae, kundi mga menor de edad na babae ang nabibiktima ng ganitong kalakal. According to Alias Carina, she was recruited in October of 2019, along with one other underaged friend, to perform so-called "massage services" for Chinese customers. The minimum amount was PhP6000 or what they call "gosak" (somehow a corruption of "sakto"). The amount increases if they are asked to spend the night or perform extra services. Kahindik-hindik na ang pinakabata ay 14 years old, at siya pa ay nagkaroon ng STD dahil may customer daw siya na nagbayad ng extra para hindi gumamit ng condom. Ang 14-year-old na ito ang nag tip off sa pulis, na naging hudyat ng kanilang rescue.

Matapos ng ilang linggo, bigla naman tumakbo sa akin tanggapan ang isang alias Ivy, 23 years old na Taiwanese, na pumunta dito na ang akala ay magtratrabaho sa ad agency, pero yun pala ay sa POGO. Kinuha ang passport niya kaya di siya makatakas. Siya ay hinarass, hinipo hipo at tuwing pinapagalitan siya ng boss niya ay binabanggit ang pangalan ni Michael Yang. Right now, Ivy is safely back in Taiwan, with thanks to the assistance of the Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO) of Taiwan.

Ngunit nag-iba ang takbo ng hearing ng biglang nag walk-in sa opisina namin si Allison "Alex" Chiong. Opo, literal na walk-in sa opisina ko, naka uniporme pa ng Bureau of Immigration at katatapos lang daw ng shift niya,

IO Chiong's testimony was compelling and disturbing. He discussed in detail the modus operandi of the Pastillas group. As immigration officers, they would receive in a Viber group a list of names of foreign nationals with the corresponding arrival schedule. These viber groups were ran by the chat administrators who were also employees of the BI and who directly received these names from BI officials (referred to by Chiong as "bosses" or "Chinese suppliers) who in turn received them from foreign syndicates and travel agencies. Upon arrival of the foreign nationals in the airport, those immigration officers that are involved in the scheme are under instruction to allow them entry into the country without instituting the necessary checks, screening or profiling as is standard for arriving non-Filipinos.

Makalipas ang ilang buwan, ay lumantad naman si IO Jeffrey Dale Ignacio at pinapatotoo ang sinabi ni IO Chiong. In his testimony, Ignacio corroborated the testimony of Chiong and estimated that around 90% of the immigration personnel assigned at the NAIA terminals have joined the pastillas scheme and received kickbacks.

Napag-alaman din ng komite na ang isa pang iskema na posibleng naging source ng katiwalian ay ang Visa Upon Arrival. According to both IO Chiong and IO Ignacio, when a PROC national holds a Visa Upon Arrival under Department Order No. 41, that individual is no longer screened or scrutinized. Ano ang kahina-hinala sa VUA scheme na ito? Aba ang dalawang pangunahing nangangasiwa ay ang mag-amang Marinas - si Marc Red Marinas na head ng Ports Operation and ang kanyang ama na si Maynardo Marinas na head ng Special Operations Communication Unit. Pati ang Executive Director ng IACAT na si Atty. Yvette Coronel, napasabi na "in the bigger scale, in matters of delicadeza, it is not good practice."

Mr. President, ayon sa aming kalkula at sa tulong ng mg whistleblowers, higit 40 billion ang tinabo ng mga naghahari-harian sa Bureau of Immigration, through pastillas and VUA. Hindi pa kasama dito ang natatabo mula sa outbound trafficking, o ang pagpuslit palabas ng sarili nating mga kababayan, na kadalasan ay mga kababaihan. These are not sporadic instances of extortion. They are made possible by a hierarchical Mafia-like structure with foot soldiers (immigration officers), coordinators (viber chat group administrators), connectors to the money source (Chinese passenger suppliers), enforcers (TCEU and terminal heads) at ang nasa pinakataas ng pyramid, ang mga Mafia boss. Di din nakapagtataka ang natuklasan namin na madami sa Mafia na ito ang hindi nagsubmit ng SALN o bungi bungi ang record ng SALN.

Mr. President, in light of the findings, the Committee has made the following recommendations:

We recommend the filing of criminal cases against Marc Red Marinas, Erwin Ortanez, Bienlado Guevara, Arlan Mendoza, Fidel Mendoza, Jonathan Orozcol, Grifton Medina, Glenn Ford Comia, Deon Carlo ALbao, Rodolfo Magbuhos, Anthony Lopez, Danieve Binsol, Dennis Robles, Bradford Allen So, Gabriel Etacio, Ralph Ryan Garcia, Phol Villanueva, Abdul Calaca, Danilo Deudor, Marc Macababad, Cherie Ricolcol, Abduhafez Hadjibasher, Amboy Lucero and George Bituin and Salahudin Hadjinoor for violations of RA No. 3019 or the Anti Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, without prejudice to other charges that may be levied against them including but not limited to violations of Republic Act No. 9208 or the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act and other special laws. Gusto ko pong linawin na ang mga pangalang nabanggit ay yung binanggit lang sa aming hearings and corroborated by evidence presented to the Committee. I know that the NBI and our law enforcement, with their superior investigating skills, are casting a wider net. Sinusportahan ko sila sa layunin na mahuli ang dapat mahuli at managot ang dapat managot.

We likewise recommend the filing of criminal charges for failure to file their respective SALNs in violation of Section 8 of R.A. No. 6713 against the following individuals: (1) Danieve Binsol, (2) Dimple Mahyumi Mallari, (3) Marc Red Marinas, (4) Maynardo Marinas, (5) Grifton Medina, and (6) Arlan Mendoza.

Further, the Committee recommends that further investigation be conducted on the potential criminal liability of former Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre for issuing Executive Order No. 041 and his appointment of Marc Red Marinas, as he may reasonably be assumed to have known that the consequence of both actions would be to grant the father and son Mariñas near unfettered discretion over the entry of hundreds of thousands of Chinese individuals - not only a potential corruption and conflict of interest issue, but also a national security issue.

We also urge the Bureau of Internal Revenue to conduct a tax audit on the travel agencies that have managed to corner the VUA market, including Empire International Travel and Tours owned by Liya Wu.

On the part of legislation, we are happy to share that the Anti-Trafficking bill that passed on second reading and has been sponsored by this Committee, includes the following innovations: it grants additional tools to law enforcers to investigate trafficking that takes place in digital platforms, kasama na dito ang WeChat na app, it affords added protections to foreign trafficked women within Philippine territory, and Filipino women victimized by foreign nationals.

Lastly, we support the call for long-overdue reforms in the Bureau of Immigration, particularly in areas that compromise check and balance mechanisms.

Bilang pagtatapos po, the Committee takes this opportunity to thank Alex Chiong and Dale Ignacio for their invaluable service not only to the Committee and to the Philippine Senate, but also to the Filipino people. As of this writing, both of them are still in the Witness Protection Program. Kung tayo ay nahihirapan sa mga lockdown at quarantine, di hamak na mas mahirap ang kanilang pinagdadaanan. Alex and Dale, may you find strength in the gratitude of the Filipino people, and in the knowledge that speaking your truth has helped us protect the vulnerable - ang mga kababaihan, kabataan at mahihirap na laging nagiging biktima ng sigalot ng human trafficking.

May God bless you. May God bless the Philippines.