Court of Appeals. Photo courtesy of the Supreme Court of the Philippines.
The Court of Appeals has upheld its 2025 dismissal of the forfeiture case filed by the government against a former official of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and three others over their alleged involvement in the controversial ‘pastillas’ scandal.
In its ruling, the appellate court’s ‘former Eighth Division’ denied the motion for reconsideration filed by the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) to reverse the trashing of the charge against former NBI legal assistance section chief Joshua Paul Capiral, his brother and former immigration officer Christopher John, Rosalina Ang Chua and Ma. Luisa Rosario Chua.
Part of the CA resolution read: “Upon careful deliberation, we find no compelling reason to deviate from ourd findings, conclusion and ruling. The arguments presented in the motion were already considered, discussed and passed upon in the assailed decision. No new matters were raised by the petitioner-appellee that would warrant modifying, much less reversing, our earlier findings. Accordingly, the motion for reconsideration is denied.” reads a part of the two-page resolution.
Associate Justices Nina Antonio-Valenzuela and Florencio Mamauag Jr. concurred with the ruling penned by Associate Justice Eleuterio Bathan and promulgated on July 16.
The appellate court dismissed on April 15, 2025 the forfeiture case against the four respondents, citing that the Muntinlupa City Regional Trial Court erred in siding with the AMLC which “failed to present sufficient evidence to support its claim that the Capirals were engaged in money laundering.”
The AMLC had previously discovered deposits and withdrawals from the bank accounts of the Capiral brothers amounting to P5 million from 2016 to 2021, which prompted the Muntinlupa court to seize the P138,000 left in the bank.
According to the CA, while the deposits in the questioned bank accounts were disproportionate to the earnings of the Capiral brothers, there was lack of evidence that the funds could be linked to any illegal activity.
The so-called ‘pastillas’ scheme was reportedly created to allow Chinese nationals, mostly involved in banned Philippine offshore gaming operator (POGO) firms, into the country without the required entry documents.
The Capirals and their two co-accused were arrested after accepting P200,000 from an immigration officer. They allegedly extorted from immigration personnel—with the ‘grease’ money rolled up on bond paper resembling the local delicacy pastillas—for their names to be cleared from any charge.