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DOJ hits police's anti-trafficking raid; suspects released for further investigation

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Mike Navallo, ABS-CBN News

MANILA (UPDATED) — The Department of Justice (DOJ) has flagged a human trafficking raid conducted by the Philippine National Police (PNP) in Las Piñas last month that “rescued” some 2,000 alleged trafficking victims.Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin “Boying” Remulla faulted the PNP Anti-Cybercrime Group (ACG) for failing to coordinate with the DOJ’s Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT) and for pushing through with the raid despite supposed lack of evidence.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/07/02/23/pnp-says-chinese-fugitives-among-arrested-pogo-workers">PNP says 4 Chinese fugitives among arrested POGO workers</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/video/news/06/27/23/2700-human-trafficking-victims-rescued-in-las-pias-pogo-raid">2,700 human trafficking victims rescued in Las Piñas POGO raid</a></li></ul>“Walang specific grounds para hulihin ang tao. Walang specific complainants…Basta raid lang, raid. Pumasok lang sila parang mangingisda,” Remulla told the media after meeting his undersecretaries, assistant secretaries and unit heads at the DOJ on Monday.“Yan ang sinasabi namin dati pa. Yung nangyari sa Pampanga, nag-usap kami sa taas, sinabi na namin, mag-case buildup tayo bago pa tayo pumasok sa ganyan kasi kami bibigyan niyo ng responsibilidad. Hindi kami papayag na maglagay o magtanim ng ebidensya kahit kanino,” he added.(There were no specific grounds for the arrest, no specific complainants. They went there just to fish. That&#x27;s what we have been saying for a long time. We previously agreed to build a case even before we do that. We will not agree with planting evidence on anyone.)The 5 suspects, who were all Chinese, have been “released for further preliminary investigation,” which means that they will still be allowed to file their counteraffidavits and present their side before any criminal charge is lodged in court.Of the more than 2,000 individuals “rescued,” around 1,100 are still in the Las Piñas POGO facility.Remulla said the Filipinos were allowed to go home while foreigners without visas were already sent home.Foreigners with visas, however, will still have to go through visa cancellation proceedings before they can go back to their countries.Remulla blamed a culture of “arrests” within the PNP for what happened.“Ang dati kasi naging ugali ng kapulisan natin, huli nang huli, kahit walang kaso. Pagka wala nang mailagay na kaso, naglalagay ng ebidensya. Kaya lang di na nila magawa ngayon yun. Hindi kami papayag dito, di ba? Kaya nagkakaproblema sila,” he said.“Manghuhuli ka nang walang kaso? Ano, magtatanim ka ng kaso? Hindi pwede sa DOJ. Hindi ako papayag dyan. Kaya ngayon nagkakaproblema sila,” he added.(Before, police would just keep arresting even without a case. If there is no case, they plant evidence. They can no longer do that. We will not allow that. That&#x27;s why they&#x27;re having problems.)The Justice secretary said they are trying to address this culture by implementing new procedures under a new DOJ department circular which mandates prosecutors to take an active role in gathering evidence and building the case.Human trafficking is one of the cases where coordination between prosecutors and law enforcers is required under the circular.“May pag-uusap DOJ at ACG ng PNP na bago kumilos ay mag-case buildup muna para tayo ay magraid at tayo ay manghuli, ang lahat ng ating huhulihin ay pihadong may ebidensya laban sa kanila. Hindi po ito nasunod,” the Justice chief said.“Tumuloy po sila at ngayon, marami hong nakabinbin na hindi mai-file na kaso sapagkat wala hong ebidensya na kumpleto. Yan ang isa sa mga problema. Kaya mag-uusap kami muli ng PNP-ACG tungkol sa bagay na ito,” he said. (The DOJ and PNP-ACG agreed to build a case before we do raids, everyone we arrest should have evidence against them. This was not followed. They pushed through with that, so many are pending without complete evidence. That&#x27;s why we will talk again about this.)<div>&#x27;MORO-MORO&#x27; </div>In a press conference Monday, Sen. Raffy Tulfo also criticized the PNP, as well as immigration officers, Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (Pagcor) and labor agencies for its alleged failure in addressing issues related to POGOs following the Las Piñas raid.Tulfo also blasted the move by authorities to allow the Filipino POGO workers &quot;rescued&quot; to leave the premises in Las Piñas City without properly investigating whether they are really victims or complicit to the crime. &quot;Yung mga Pilipinong kasabwat naman sa kabulastugang ito, imbes na masampahan ng kaso sa korte, ay nabibigyan pa ng ayuda dahil pinalalabas na biktima,&quot; Tulfo said.The raid took place on June 26, the same day the DOJ and PNP-NCR conducted the first training on case buildup in compliance with the new DOJ department circular.Remulla said he has yet to talk to the PNP chief over this matter.<div>PNP REACTION</div>In an interview, the PNP denied the claim that the PNP ACG did not liaise with the IACAT.“On the part of the PNP anti-cyber crime group, according to them, they have done the necessary coordination with Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT). And in fact, prosecutors were present during the initial stages of the implementation of search warrant and this inter agency council against trafficking the head of that council is the Department of Justice,” PNP spokesperson Col. Jean Fajardo told ANC’s Dateline Philippines.She also insisted there were complainants and there were other companies operating inside the compound.Fajardo admitted however they are facing challenges in bringing the case to court.“One of the challenges, initially, at the initial stage of the interview, most of the rescued victims are very candid in admitting they are forced to work in the said establishment... but when they need to sign affidavits, some of them refused or [were] having second thoughts,” she explained.“There were complainants actually that who came forward and provided information that were the basis why the PNP ACG applied for search warrants. The mere fact that these search warrants were issued by the concerned regional trial court would only prove that there was indeed probable cause of human trafficking,” she added.<div>STILL DETAINED</div>In a phone interview with ABS-CBN News, Atty. Christian Vargas, the lawyer of the 5 Chinese suspects, insisted there was no basis for the raid.“Kagaya nga ng sinabi ni Sec. Remulla, the PNP ACG conducted the raid, walang namang nagko-complain doon sa loob eh, sa mga workers, sa legitimate workers natin. So they just did this raid na parang sabi nga ni Sec. Remulla, it’s part of a fishing expedition already itong ginagawa nila,” he said.He claimed the 5 Chinese nationals were not even directors nor stockholders of the company and they are still verifying of they were even employees of the company.Contrary to Remulla’s earlier statement that the 5 Chinese have been released, Vargas said they are still being detained.“Actually kakagaling ko lang doon sa compound, sa loob. I was able to see them. And it is unfortunate that despite the order of the Secretary of Justice or the DOJ for them to be released ay andun pa rin sila sa loob ng compound. They are still being detained still doon sa loob inspite of the order, release order of Sec. Remulla,” he said.He instead accused the PNP of violating the law by continuing to man the compound.“PNP is overstaying already inside the compound of Hongtai no. Why did I say that? Kasi ang search warrant, those were issued June 26, 2023. It is now July 10, 2023. Lagpas sampung araw na. Ang search warrrant po, para sa kaalaman natin, sampung araw lang po ang buhay ng search warrant. Pagkatapos ho noon, ang mga nagko-conduct ng search ay dapat nang lisanin ang lugar. Hanggang ngayon po ay nandun pa rin ang ating kapulisan sa loob ng compound, wala pa ring maaaring lumabas sa mga foreigners na nandoon ngayon,” he said.Vargas said they intend to file a petition for habeas corpus to question the continued detention of his clients and the other “rescued victims” in the compound.“Moving forward, we will be filing a case in court already to get the custody of these foreigners na mga kliyente natin. At parang makalaya na rin sila sa loob kasi para na hong kulungan yung nasa loob ng Hongtai compound. Hindi na siya isang private property. It was effectively transformed into a detention and holding facility without due process of law,” he said.A DOJ panel of prosecutors has set the preliminary investigation on the human trafficking complaint on July 19.

Justice Sec. Remulla blamed a culture of 'arrests' within the PNP for what happened.

DOJ hits police's anti-trafficking raid; suspects released for further investigation

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DOJ hits police's anti-trafficking raid; suspects released for further investigation

Mike Navallo,

ABS-CBN News

Published July 10, 2023 01:39 PM PHT

|

Updated July 10, 2023 08:08 PM PHT

Read More:

DOJ

Department of Justice

Philippine National Police

PNP

PNP ACG

Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking

Remulla

Boying Remulla

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