Dismissed official tagged in ‘pastillas’ scam now heading border control unit

September 5, 2024 | 3:01pm

MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Risa Hontiveros on Thursday, September 5 questioned why the Bureau of Immigration’s (BI) border control and intelligence unit (BCIU) is headed by an official who was dismissed due to his involvement in the “pastillas” scam. 

To recall, the pastillas scam was a scheme discovered in 2020 where BI officials would allow foreign nationals, particularly Chinese nationals, into the country for a bribe amounting to P10,000. 

The official in question, Vincent Bryan Allas, was dismissed by the Ombudsman in 2022 due to his involvement in the extortion scheme. Allas is now the acting chief of the BCIO. 

“In 2022, the Office of the Ombudsman found Mr. Allas  ‘administratively liable for grave misconduct and conduct prejudicial to the service’. He was dismissed from service then in relation to his involvement in the pastillas scam extortion scheme. There are also graft cases filed against him in the Sandiganbayan,” Hontiveros said during the Senate probe into the escape of former Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo. 

“How did he become the head of BCIU?” the opposition senator asked in Filipino. 

Hontiveros wondered if there was a relation between Allas and the case of Guo. 

BI Intelligence Division Chief Fortunato Manahan, who represented the bureau at the hearing, was surprised by this revelation, saying that he was not aware of this, as Allas was performing well. 

“Bakit yung isang may ganung record pa at ongoing cases ay, siya, sa 120 million Filipinos, siya pa ang linagay sa pagbantay ng borders natin? Is that the best practice sa BI?” asked Hontiveros. 

(Why is the person with ongoing cases, why is he the one out of the 120 million Filipinos that was put in control of our borders?)

Manahan said it depended on the order of the BI Commissioner. Immigration Commissioner Norman Tansingco was not present during the hearing, as many officials from the Department of Justice were in the House of Representatives for the agency’s budget hearing. 

Other than Allas, there were 44 other BI officials axed over the pastillas scheme.

The case of Guo has triggered a flurry of implications after documents revealed that her identity and fingerprint matches with Chinese national Guo Hua Ping, raising questions on how a foreign national was seemingly able to steal a Filipino identity and secure a post in local government.