ORION, Bataan — Felicito Mejorado, a tipster credited for bringing in at least P4 billion to government coffers, was buried over the weekend without being paid his due under the law, his family lamented.

As the former agent of the defunct Economic Intelligence and Investigation Bureau was laid to rest, his wife, Nilda, appealed to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. for the release of the tipster’s reward.

“My husband was behind the P4 billion income by the government due to his efforts in reporting smuggling,” Nilda said during his wake. “Had it not been for him, the government would not have been able to earn that.”

Mejorado was credited for monitoring and reporting the smuggling of P4 billion worth of petroleum off the coast of Mariveles, Bataan in the 1990s.

Under the law enticing people to report smuggling and other criminal activities, he was supposed to receive millions of pesos as a reward.

Mejorado’s expose against the oil mafia almost cost him his life as hired killers went after him. He has constantly relocated since then, hiding from the syndicate with the help of this writer.

With Mejorado’s tip, the Bureau of Customs was able to collect P1.3 billion in taxes from the smugglers.

An order by then-Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita for the DBM to release Mejorado’s money was also not heeded.

Mejorado passed away last 31 January in a hospital in Manila after being paralyzed following a heart attack.