President Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday said he will let Congress and the Department of Justice finish their respective investigations before deciding on Immigration Commissioner Jaime Morente’s fate in the wake of the “pastillas” scheme.
The President, however, maintained that the Immigration personnel who were allegedly involved in the scheme should be booted out from the bureau.
“I think there’s going to be an investigation with Congress. I defer to Congress first before I make any decision,” Duterte told reporters in a chance interview in Malacañang.
In a Senate hearing, some Immigration personnel have been accused of asking bribes from Chinese nationals to illegally enter the country to work in offshore gaming hubs.
Duterte said he will ask the Civil Service Commission to provide names who can replace the corrupt BI officials.
“I am insisting on the ouster of all who committed… I think we have terminated… but there will be more. I think some are about to leave. But, they should be replaced, all of them,” he added.
The President remains mum if he will prohibit offshore gaming hubs which mostly came from China.
“I will wait for this thing to settle down. I will not investigate when there’s a flurry of, you know, actions being taken here and there and also with the investigation in China. It would be prudent for me, I think, to just wait,” he said.
