MANILA, Philippines – Department of Justice (DOJ) Secretary Jesus Crispin “Boying” Remulla slammed the Philippine National Police Anti-Cybercrime Group (PNP ACG)’s anti-human trafficking raid, which had “no specific grounds to arrest people,” according to Remulla.

“Hindi siya pinpointed, hindi siya specific. Walang specific acts, walang specific grounds para hulihin ‘yung tao. Walang specific complainants. Basta raid lang, raid gano’n. Pumasok lang sila, parang nangingisda (The operation was not pinpointed. There are no specific acts, specific grounds to arrest people. No specific complainants. They did the raid for the sake of doing a raid. They barged in, they were like fishing),” the DOJ chief said in a press briefing on Monday, July 10.

Remulla was flagging the PNP ACG’s anti-trafficking operation in Las Piñas, where 2,724 individuals – both Filipinos and foreigners – were rescued from a business operated under the guise of a Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (POGO) enterprise. Reporters already reached out to the PNP ACG for a reaction, but the police unit has yet to issue a statement as of writing.

The DOJ chief said they already talked with the anti-cybercrime group that case build-up should be done before a raid, so there would be enough evidence against those who will be arrested. However, the agreement has not been followed, according to Remulla.

“Hindi po ito nasunod. Tumuloy po sila at ngayon marami hong nakabinbin na hindi mai-file na kaso sapagkat wala namang ebidensiya na kumpleto. ‘Yan isa sa mga problema, kaya mag-uusap kami muli ng anti-cybercrime group tungkol sa bagay na ito,” the justice secretary added.

(This has not been followed. They continued with the operation and now, we have a lot of pending cases that we cannot file because of lack of evidence. That’s one of the problems, that’s why we will talk again with the anti-cybercrime group regarding this matter.)

In the Las Piñas operation, the police said they operated under a search warrant issued by the Office of the Executive Judge of the Las Piñas City Regional Trial Court. The police explained that the operation was from the information they received that businesses in the said Las Piñas compound were allegedly involved in human trafficking and scamming activities.

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Remulla also went on to hit the police’s practice of tampering with the evidence.

“Ano kasi, ang dati kasing naging ugali ng kapulisan natin, huli nang huli kahit walang kaso. Pagka wala nang mailagay na kaso, naglalagay ng ebidensiya. Eh ngayon hindi nila magawa ngayon ‘yon eh. Hindi kami papayag dito eh, ‘di ba? Kaya nagkakaroon ng problema sila,” the DOJ secretary said.

“Manghuhuli ka na walang kaso, ano magtatanim ka ng kaso? Hindi puwede ‘yon sa DOJ, hindi kami papayag diyan,” he added.

(Our police is used to arresting people even without cases. If they cannot file a case, they would tamper with the evidence. But they cannot do that now. We will not let that happen, right? That’s why they’re having problems right now. You will arrest without a case, and then, what? You will file fabricated cases? We cannot allow that in the DOJ, we will not let that happen.)

The DOJ chief said around 1,100 of the rescued individuals are still in the Las Piñas compound, while the rescued Filipinos have already been allowed to go home. Foreigners without visas were already sent back to their countries, while those who have visas will still need to undergo visa cancellation procedure.

Meanwhile, the five suspects, who are all Chinese, have been released from further preliminary probe, said Remulla.

In February this year, Remulla’s DOJ issued Memorandum Circular No. 8, which ordered higher standards for the filing of criminal cases. The order also instructed prosecutors to withdraw cases with no “reasonable certainty of conviction,” instead of the usual probable cause standard. – Rappler.com