Palace says no "sacred cow" amid alleged BI corruption, POGO issue
Malacanang said on Tuesday there are no "sacred cows" in the government amid alleged anomalies involving the Philippine offshore gaming operations.
In a press briefing, Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo, however, said that an investigation on the alleged corruption at the Bureau of Immigration, supposedly involving the "pastillas scheme," could only be investigated if there is a complaint.
Some Chinese nationals involved in the POGO operations allegedly trafficked Chinese women into the country to work for this industry or in other alleged illegal activities, such as prostitution. Some erring Immigration staff allegedly received patillas-like or rolled out huge amounts of money as a bribe in exchange for allowing Chinese illegal workers to enter the country.
"We’ve been saying that any complaints should be filed. Because unless you have filed a formal complaint, we will never know if there is any anomaly; and even if these are being subject of talks in media, in columns, unless there is a complaint filed, we will never know. You have to submit proof so that we can do something," said Panelo, also the chief presidential legal counsel.
He said it would be Immigration Commissioner Jaime Morente who would initiate the probe if there would be a complaint.
"The Immigration Commissioner is tasked to do his job. Meaning, apart from the usual governing his own territory, he has to know whether there are anomalies in his territory; and respond to it. It doesn’t have to take the President to do the job for him," he said.
Despite being a huge source of government revenue, Panelo said the POGO industry is not indispensable.
"Isn't it the President said, 'there is no sacred cow in this government. If it's against the interest of the people and general welfare, I'll stop it'," Panelo said as he also cited what Duterte had done with the Visiting Forces Agreement.
"Look at VFA issue, despite all odds, he decided to cut it off. There are supposed to be very significant implications according to critics and supporters of VFA, but that didn’t stop the President from abrogating it," he explained.
The Philippine government has sent a notice to the United States of its decision to terminate the military treaty.
Asked if Duterte still has trust and confidence with Morente, Panelo said, "Until he says otherwise, the assumption is he has confidence in him." Celerina Monte/DMS
