BY JEFFREY DAMICOG
The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) is mulling to reinvestigate the so-called “pastillas” money-making scheme after its legal section chief was caught accepting bribes to exclude persons from being prosecuted for the case, the Department of Justice (DoJ) said Tuesday.
“If there is evidence that the previous investigation may have been compromised, a reinvestigation may be conducted,” DoJ Undersecretary Markk Perete said.
Perete pointed this out after learning from Tuesday’s Senate hearing that NBI legal assistant section chief Joshua Paul Capiral was arrested by the NBI on Monday, Sept. 21, during an entrapment operation.
Meanwhile, Perete said the DoJ is “now monitoring the proceedings in the Senate to assess if further investigation is necessary.”
“The Secretary has previously directed the NBI to investigate this matter,” the undersecretary reminded.
“The investigation led to the filing of complaints against certain BI officers and employees before the Ombudsman,” he added.
The NBI filed before the Office of Ombudsman (OMB) last Sept. 1 a criminal complaint against 19 Bureau of Immigration (BI) officers and personnel for their alleged involvement in the “pastillas” bribery scheme in the BI.
Meanwhile, former Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II has once again denied any involvement in the “pastillas” scheme.
Aguirre physically appeared at Tuesday’s hybrid hearing of the Senate committee on women and children, chaired by Sen. Risa Hontiveros, to refute the allegation hurled against him by columnist Ramon Tulfo.
Aguirre also reasoned out he has already resigned as DoJ secretary at the time the issue cropped up.
“As such, I am bereft of power or authority to control, much less head, a syndicate operating in the BI,” he said.
The “pastillas” scheme issue cropped up after it was learned that some Chinese nationals were given special treatment by some immigration officials to enter the Philippines by allowing them to dodge the screening process after giving grease money.
Some of these Chinese nationals were allegedly working at Philippine Offshore Gaming Operations (POGO). (with a report from Hannah L. Torregoza)
