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DOJ to complain to SC about judges who freed POGO workers

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Mike Navallo, ABS-CBN News

<h3>Justice Secretary says grant of habeas corpus petitions should come with colatilla</h3>MANILA — The Justice department plans to go after judges in Las Piñas courts who freed foreign employees in a Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (POGO) facility that was raided by authorities in June.Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla disclosed the move to reporters Monday.“Four of the courts in Las Piñas have actively granted habeas corpus petitions and I want to tell you that I have instructed the Bureau of Immigration to file the necessary cases against the judges who willingly, or in gross ignorance of the law, granted these habeas corpus petitions without any further colatilla,” he said.The colatilla Remulla referred to is the clause following an order of release in a habeas corpus petition that allows the release of individuals unless if there are other lawful causes for their continued detention.“Kasi dapat yan, pag meron kang foreigner na hinahawakan with violation of the Immigration law, dapat diyan merong colatilla ang kanilang pag-grant ng habeas corpus — unless they are being held for other lawful cause,” he explained.(What should happen is that if you’re detaining a foreigner who violated Immigration laws, there should be a colatilla in granting the habeas corpus petition — unless they are being held for other lawful cause.)“In that way, they’re ignoring the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Immigration and the Department of Justice with regards to illegal acts of aliens in the country. So we are filing cases against the judges so that we will find out if there is indeed gross ignorance of the law in what they did, in granting the habeas corpus petitions,” he added.More than 2,000 POGO workers were apprehended in the June raid with more than half of them foreigners.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<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>After being held for weeks at the Hong Tai compound in Las Piñas, the foreigners filed habeas corpus petitions before the Las Piñas courts and the Court of Appeals.A petition for the issuance of a writ of habeas corpus is a remedy against illegal confinement or detention and directs a public official to produce a person in court and show valid reasons for his/her detention.The appellate court’s Tenth Division, in a decision dated July 28 this year, granted the habeas corpus petition of 4 foreigners after finding that the police failed to present search warrants and their continued detention could not be justified under the concept of “protective custody.”The court also noted the foreigners did not consent to their continued detention as trafficked persons nor their extended stay in the country to process their repatriation, which are required under the Expanded Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2022.But Remulla pointed out that unlike the Las Piñas court rulings, the CA decision came with the colatilla “unless there are other lawful causes warranting their continued restraint.”“Sa (In the) CA, they granted the habeas corpus petitions but with a colatilla — unless they are being held for other lawful cause. That is what should be in all the Las Piñas decisions. But here, there seems to be an ignorance of it. A matter that the courts should not step into issues where sovereignty of the country is invoked, especially an issue that is important to us at this point,” he said.The Justice chief said they plan to file an administrative case for gross ignorance of the law before the Supreme Court but it’s not just against the judges.“We will file cases. We will call the attention of the Supreme Court as to their behavior, as to the behavior of their lawyers. They’re making a mockery of the justice system,” he said.“Alam nyo (You know), we’re not doing the legal system a favor by filing cases that we know are wrong just to make a living. We don’t do that,” he added, referring to lawyers of the foreigners.According to Remulla, around 600 foreigners have been released on recognizance of their lawyers while 600 more are still being held at the POGO compound.Release on recognizance means an individual is released without posting bail but is placed under the custody of a qualified member of the community.ABS-CBN News is still verifying the number of foreigners ordered release by the Las Piñas courts and those still within the premises of the Hong Tai POGO hub.Remulla himself had criticized the Philippine National Police Anti-Cybercrime Group’s June 26 raid for lack of coordination with the DOJ’s Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT) and for pushing through with the raid despite a supposed lack of evidence.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/07/10/23/doj-hits-pnp-anti-trafficking-raid-suspects-released-for-further-probe">DOJ hits police&#x27;s anti-trafficking raid; suspects released for further investigation</a></li></ul><div>RELATED VIDEO</div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=2701845" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div>

The Justice department plans to go after judges in Las Piñas courts who freed foreign employees in a Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (POGO) facility that was raided by authorities in June.

DOJ to complain to SC about judges who freed POGO workers

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DOJ to complain to SC about judges who freed POGO workers

Mike Navallo,

ABS-CBN News

Published August 08, 2023 01:40 AM PHT

|

Updated August 08, 2023 10:25 AM PHT

Read More:

POGO

Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator

Las Pinas POGO

DOJ

Jesus Crispin Remulla

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