The Department of Justice on Monday ordered the release of five Chinese suspects allegedly involved in human trafficking operations, who were arrested during a Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (POGO) raid in Las Piñas City, as it lamented that the police failed in its case buildup.
But as of last night, the foreign POGO workers remained in police custody, their lawyer told reporters after the DOJ ordered their release “for further preliminary investigation.”
“We told them to cooperate with us first before acting, and then they want us to file cases without evidence. Our police are used to making arrests without a case,” Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla said.
“Arresting people without cases. What – cases will be invented? The DOJ will not agree to that,” he added.
Remulla lamented that many pending cases could not be filed due to a lack of evidence.
The DOJ chief said that in the Las Piñas raid, in particular, the police failed to cite specific acts or specific grounds to arrest the individuals in the compound.
“They just raided… they just entered the premises. As if they were fishing,” Remulla said.
“This is the problem when people refuse to listen. We’ve said that we should first coordinate before acting and now they want us to file a case even without evidence. We will not do that,” he said.
Remulla said he will bring this up with PNP chief Gen. Benjamin Acorda Jr. For his part, Senator Raffy Tulfo slammed the police for turning the June 27 Las Pinas raid into a “milking cow.”
Tulfo sought a Senate investigation into the raid, citing a reliable source from Camp Crame that money changed hands for the release of the foreigners.
He disclosed that at least P250,000 was paid to some members of the Philippine National Police-Anti-Cybercrime Group (PNP-ACG) for the release of a Chinese or Vietnamese occupying a high position in a POGO firm.
He said members of the PNP-ACG first called up the embassies of the arrested foreigners during the raid before informing the Bureau of Immigration (BI) and the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT).
On June 30, the five Chinese nationals, identified as Li Jiacheng; Xiao Liu, alias Xiao Lin; Yan Jiayong, alias Pan Wen Jie; Duan Haozhuan; and LP Hongkun, alias Li Yang, underwent inquest proceedings at the DOJ.
The Chinese suspects were arrested after police authorities rescued almost 3,000 individuals from a compound in Las Pinas City.
Of the individuals rescued, 1,534 were Filipinos and 1,190 were from Malaysia, Singapore, China, and Vietnam.
According to Remulla, around 1,000 victims are still in the country.
The DOJ chief said all the Filipinos have returned home while they are processing the cancellation of the visas of the other victims.
The PNP-ACG on Monday proposed to the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation to include cops during inspections of POGOs.
PNP-ACG chief Brig. Gen. Sidney Hernia said they submitted their inputs to PAGCOR, which was now considering some changes in its policies on POGOs.
“Hopefully, we can institutionalize the PNP’s presence, especially the PNP-ACG, in the PAGCOR’s monitoring and inspections,” Hernia said.