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President Rodrigo Duterte. (File Photo / ACE MORANDANTE / Division of Presidential Photographers)
MANILA, Philippines – President Rodrigo Duterte summoned the immigration officials who were suspended by the Ombudsman’s Office in connection with the corruption scandal of the so-called “Pill scheme,” said Secretary of Justice Menardo Guevarra.
According to Guevarra, Duterte summoned the 44 officials from the Immigration Office (BI) to a meeting in Malacañang on Monday night, and intended to give them a “reprimand.”
Guevarra also said that Duterte gave each of them a pill, a sweet delicacy rolled in a sheet of paper, except for that money and not the edible sweets that were inside. The Pills scheme is shaking the BI after exposure of such a fuss.
Duterte wanted BI executives to eat the pills, added the attorney general.
“The PRRD summoned the more than 40 immigration officials implicated in the ‘pills’ scheme and later suspended by the [Ombudsman] to a meeting in Malacañang tonight. The president apparently intended to give them a reprimand, ”Guevarra said in a message to reporters.
“During the short meeting, he distributed pills to BI staff. Money had been put into each pill, according to the president. he wanted them to eat the pills, but he did not insist ‘out of deference to the Secretary of Justice who was also present,’ “he added.
Duterte then asked them to eat the money or give it to the first beggar they saw.
“He said, either you eat it or you give it to the first beggar you see. In the end, he claimed that the cases had been shelved and that they simply had to face them. No one on the BI staff dared to speak a word. End of the meeting, ”said Guevarra.
In an order signed by the Ombudsman, Samuel Martires, on October 26, the 44 officials were placed on preventive suspension that will last for six months and would be left without pay, due to the investigation that involves them.
They were accused of participating in the pill scheme, in which foreigners, mainly Chinese, are bribed in exchange for an easy entry. The distribution of the bribe money was made discreet by rolling it up in paper, just like the delicacy is wrapped.
Duterte is recently leading a massive anti-corruption campaign after becoming frustrated with many issues under his administration, from the BI controversy to allegations targeting the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation, the late release of funds for COVID healthcare workers. -19 and problems where the Department of Public Works and Roads is involved.
JPV
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