NBI reviews record of ‘bribery’ attorneys handling pill cases

CAUGHT WITH RED HANDS A National Bureau of Investigation agent handcuffs Joshua Paul Capiral, the head of the NBI’s Legal Aid Office, who was allegedly caught red-handed Monday night receiving bribery money from one of the all 19 accused immigration officers. with bribery for alleged participation in the airport escort service “pills”. His brother, Christopher, an immigration officer who was also arrested, watches from his seat during investigative proceedings at the Justice Department on Wednesday. —RICHARD A. REYES

MANILA, Philippines – The National Bureau of Investigation is investigating other cases handled by a high-ranking attorney for the agency who was arrested for allegedly taking bribes to exclude certain immigration officers from prosecution in the trafficking of “pills” of escort from the airport, an official said on Wednesday.

Emerito Dongallo Jr., head of the NBI’s Special Action Unit (SAU), said that the director of the NBI, Eric Distor, had ordered an audit of all the cases that went through Joshua Paul Capiral, head of the Office of Legal Aid, who was arrested in his office Monday night. along with his brother, Christopher, an immigration officer.

“We are tracking all the cases,” Dongallo told the Inquirer. “We found out that he was the mole a week ago, so we are backtracking. We are following up. “

He said SAU agents caught the Capiral brothers after Immigration Officer II Jeffrey Dale Ignacio, one of 19 officers previously charged in the pill scheme, revealed that NBI’s attorney sold cases for at least P100,000.

NBI Deputy Director Ferdinand Lavin said Ignacio, now the plaintiff in the case against the Capirals, had been “telling everything” about how Christopher had claimed that his brother, who had been the head of the legal aid office for the last six years, he could “do something” to cases against him.

Disabling with eyes

Senator Risa Hontiveros, who is leading a Senate investigation into the escort scam, had estimated that up to P10 billion in bribery money greased the hands of corrupt immigration officials and private tour operators involved in the scheme since the early part of the Duterte administration.

The fraud was exposed to the Senate earlier this year by a whistleblower, Immigration Officer Allison “Alex” Chiong. Under the scheme, a Chinese national arriving as a tourist but intending to work for the Philippine offshore gaming operators (Pogos) pays a “service fee” of P10,000 for a smooth entry into the country.

The scheme acquired that label because the bribery money was wrapped in white paper that looked like Filipino dulce de leche.

Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon, a former attorney general, said Wednesday that the NBI should file a debarment case against Capiral, whose alleged extortion was “one of the reasons why Filipinos are losing faith in the government’s ability to fight corruption. “

“This just shows how rampant corruption is today,” he said in a television interview. “The NBI should make Capiral an example that corruption has no place in the agency.”

“If we don’t address this, everyone will believe they can bribe the NBI and having that perception is not good at fighting corruption,” Drilon said.

severe warning

Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said Capiral’s arrest “is a stark warning to all that criminal and corrupt activities will not be tolerated, especially in the agencies that are supposed to be the pillars of the administration of criminal justice.”

The Justice Department said it would immediately resolve the NBI charges of theft, extortion, corruption, unethical conduct and disclosure of classified information against the Capirals.

Deputy Chief State Attorney Richard Anthony Fadullon said the NBI complaint had been submitted for resolution as the brothers did not request a preliminary investigation.

The Capirals, both detained in the NBI holding cell, will undergo an investigative process.

“We are of the assumption that [Capiral] is asking [for] money, but nobody admits it, but what is certain is that he is asking for money, it is 100,000 pesos per head, ”said Dongallo.

Lavin said Ignacio told them that several of the 19 who were accused of corruption in the Ombudsman’s Office earlier this month were asked to pay 100,000 pesos to at least weaken the cases against them. In Ignacio’s case, the amount was doubled due to another case being filed against him, Lavin said.

He said Capiral told immigration officers allegedly charged in the lozenge racket that he could “exclude” them from the case.

Brother as ‘middle man’

Capiral’s brother, Lavin said, served as a “go-between” for the NBI attorney, himself an immigration officer.

“Our whistleblower here is already saying it all,” he said.

Although Capiral had only recommended that charges be brought against four agents, Dongallo said that a review by other agents led to the filing of charges against the 19 members of the immigration staff.

“Remember we are seeing more than 30 [people involved]Lavin said, adding that they could charge more.

Dongallo encouraged the other complainants to come out, promising that security would be provided. –

– With reports from Marlon Ramos and Dona Z. Pazzibugan

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