The Department of Justice (DOJ) on Friday noted that congestion is not an exclusive problem of the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) in its prison facilities, adding that overcrowding was also a main concern of the Bureau of Immigration’s (BI) detention center in Taguig City.
Justice Assistant Secretary and spokesman Jose Dominic Clavano IV said they were simultaneously helping the BI because there are many foreigners detained in the BI detention facility.
DOJ exercises administrative supervision over both the BuCor and the BI.
“We need to deport these aliens at the immigration center,” Clavano said, in an interview with radio DzBB.
The DOJ official lamented that many of the detained foreigners could not be deported immediately because of their pending cases in Philippine courts.
“Many of them have instigated the filing of cases against themselves so they won’t be deported,” Clavano said.
Because of this, Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla has ordered a review of the cases filed against the detained foreigners to determine which of the cases were self-instigated.
To solve the problem of congestion, Clavano said the DOJ is currently pushing for the construction of additional detention facilities for the BI.
“We are also asking Congress for additional budget for the construction of additional detention centers for the BI),” he said.
Clavano tackled the congestion at BI’s detention center when asked why the 29 foreigners arrested during a raid at the facility of the Rivendell Global Support, Inc., a Philippine Offshore Gaming Operation (POGO), are still detained at the firm’s facilities in Pasay City.
He said the POGO facilities have to be used as a detention center because of overcrowding of the BI’s facility in Taguig City.
Clavano admitted that one of those foreigners detained at the POGO facilities had escaped and is now subject of a massive manhunt.
According to him, the DOJ has been exerting efforts to re-capture the escapee who, together with the other foreigners, are facing criminal charges before the Pasay City regional trial court (RTC) for violations of the Securities Regulations Code.
The 29 foreigners are also facing complaints before the DOJ for cybercrime-related frauds.