Some travel agencies sell passports, birth certificates to foreigners, Hontiveros says

MANILA, Philippines — Travel agencies that are part of the "pastillas" bribery racket also offer Chinese nationals entering the country fake passports and other government documents through a messaging app, Sen. Risa Hontiveros said.

Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators workers from China receive offers for manufactured passports, driver’s licenses and birth certificates through the WeChat app, the senator said.

Hontiveros revealed this at the Senate hearing on Monday where she also shared screenshots from the said messaging app.

She noted that the information “corroborates...reports that Chinese nationals are using the identities of dead Filipinos,” that was previously revealed by Sen. Richard Gordon.

“These Chinese nationals are even assisted by our own corrupt local registry officials,” Hontiveros also said.

Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra told reporters in a text message that travel agencies and tour operators that may be part of the racket are covered by the National Bureau of Investigation probe.

‘Pastillas’ racket advertised

“These are criminal acts. These are violations of our laws, and our tour agencies are advertising them freely,” Hontiveros said in a release Tuesday.

“The Philippine passport seems to be too useful for supposed Chinese tourists. They even know the term ‘pastillas,’ and they even advertise it! How brazen,” she added in Filipino.

The senator also pointed out that the screenshots include the term “pastillas,” while Immigration officers invited in the hearing denied knowledge of such specific racket operating among their ranks.

Some Immigration staff also denied being part of a Viber group where the names of the Chinese nationals who availed of the scheme are allegedly sent, earning exasperation from Hontiveros.

She said the Senate will ask the help of the Philippine National Police's Anti-Cybercrime Group to verify the identities of the members of the group chat. 

Immigration excludes 242 foreign nationals

Meanwhile, the Bureau of Immigration said it turned away 242 foreign nationals in late February suspected of entering the Philippines to work illegally, following the reshuffle of employees at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport amid probe.

Immigration Commissioner Jaime Morente ordered the reassignment of 800 Immigration personnel on February 27.

He said that the directive aims to “break any possible collusion among them.”

Morente said: “79 were excluded at NAIA 1, 33 were excluded at NAIA 2 and 1130 were excluded at NAIA 3. Some were Cambodians, Vietnamese, Indonesians, [Myanmar people], Malaysians and Chinese.”

Immigration spokesperson Dana Sandoval said BI officers determined those to be excluded by conducting “a triangulation assessment by comparing a foreign national’s documents, statements or demeanor.”

“If something is inconsistent or off, we conduct secondary inspection or further verification of their purpose,” she added.

The foreign nationals were intercepted from February 21 to 28.

Morente, meanwhile, said that the bureau will expand its probe into the “pastillas” scheme and warned that those who will be proven to be a part of the racket will face administrative and criminal cases.