Philippines’ former justice secretary accused of ‘protecting’ immigration syndicate

The ‘pastillas’ scheme netted hundreds of millions of pesos in bribes from Chinese nationals who bypassed immigration officials to enter the Philippines

An ex-justice secretary has been accused of having ties with the syndicate, which a senator separately blamed for importing Covid-19 into Manila from Wuhan city

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Former Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre. Photo: AP

Published: 9:00pm, 22 Sep 2020Updated: 10:24pm, 22 Sep 2020

A Philippine newspaper columnist and former special envoy to China on Tuesday reiterated his accusation that an ex-justice secretary was the “protector” of an immigration racket that collected hundreds of millions of pesos in bribes from Chinese nationals to allow them to enter the country unhindered.

According to Ramon Tulfo, Vitaliano Aguirre received duffel bags of cash flown in by helicopter to his home in the province of Quezon, southeast of Manila.

Both Tulfo and Aguirre were appointees of President Rodrigo Duterte and used to be friends. Aguirre, who went to law school with Duterte, was the secretary of justice from 2016 until he resigned in 2018. Tulfo was a special envoy for public diplomacy for six months from October 2018.

In a senate hearing on Tuesday, Aguirre confronted Tulfo, accusing the former envoy of a “personal vendetta”.

“Assuming for the sake of argument that I was receiving (bribes), why would I let my share be flown … by a chopper? I would certainly opt for a more discreet way of receiving my share of the purported loot, if indeed true,” he said.

Aguirre claimed that when he was justice secretary, Tulfo had asked for his help in “consolidating” 90 libel cases filed against him. When Aguirre said he could not do anything, the columnist began attacking him and then linked him to the “pastillas” immigration scheme, he claimed.

Under the racket, mainland Chinese visitors who prepaid a minimum of 10,000 pesos each were escorted by staff at the Manila airport through a route that avoided immigration counters.