Five Immigration officials at NAIA are relieved from their posts as authorities investigate a bribery scheme giving Chinese nationals easy access into the country for a fee. The Bureau of Immigration says the investigation may soon cover other airports.
Airport immigration officials have been removed from their posts as the Bureau of Immigration investigates the scheme that gives Chinese nationals easy access into the country for a fee, the agency's spokesperson said Tuesday.
Once the Chinese national arrives, the immigration officer on duty would leave his booth and tell the foreigner to follow him to an office, where the visitor's passport is processed for entry. This is a departure from the standard practice where all foreigners are screened through the Immigration booths in ports, Hontiveros pointed out.The senator said this scheme is worth about ₱1 billion, computed from about 2,000 Chinese citizens entering the Philippines per day.
The bribe is called"pastillas" because before the upgrade to envelopes, the cash payments used to be distributed to officers rolled inside a sheet of bond paper resembling the wrapper of the milk candy, Hontiveros said.
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