Remulla cites 'logistical nightmare' in detaining POGO suspects

Rounding up suspects in illegal Philippine offshore gaming operations and detaining them has proven to be a logistical nightmare, Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla said on Monday.

At a Senate hearing on the Department of Justice's proposed budget in 2024, Remulla said that the DOJ, the National Bureau of Investigation, the Philippine National Police, and other law enforcement agencies lacked the resources to deal with arresting and detaining a large number of suspects. 

“We do not have the place to confine them properly in a humanitarian manner. Even if we house them in a confined area, then the feeding, the bathing, the toilet needs, all of these human needs by the people cannot be fulfilled by the DOJ," Remulla said.

"That’s why we’re not as aggressive in really trying to catch everybody because we cannot control the same without resources,” he added.

As regards the POGO raids in Las Piñas and Pampanga, Remulla said, “We had to go through a logistical nightmare trying to feed them on a daily basis. That’s the reason we cannot start arresting everybody.”

Each detainee has a P70 food budget daily.

Remulla said the DOJ had problems deporting foreigners specifically the Chinese.

“May problema ho tayo minsan dyan like People’s Republic of China. Ayaw po nila i-deport lahat kaagad, ayaw nila bigyan ng dokumento. Hindi ho nila minamadali. Ang priority lang po nila ‘yung pinapa-deport nila. Kaya meron ho tayo d’yan na nagtatagal talaga na mahigit isang taon na pwede naman ho talagang paalisin na kaya lang ayaw ho tayo tulungan ng China sa bagay na ito, nangyayari po lagi ito,” he said.

Remulla said that “sometimes the words that they use are not very, very accommodating to our request” which he found offensive.

“They are not very respectful of our country,” Remulla said.

During the discussion on POGOs, it was also revealed that there were 10 foreigners who were intercepted by the Bureau of Immigration (BI) for using a Philippine passport even if they did not look or speak like a Filipino.

“We intercepted 10 genuine Filipino passports but fake na tao, fake na Pilipino… Di marunong mag-Tagalo, then yung itsura,” BI Commissioner Norman Tansingco said.

According to the BI chief, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), which is the issuing authority of Philippine passports, already confirmed the issuance of the passports but they are still investigating the circumstances.

All the 10 foreigners were already in the BI’s custody and were charged with deportation cases, Tansingco said.

But Remulla said these foreigners should not be deported immediately as they should face falsification charges.

Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa pointed out that this is not only an issue within the DFA but also a matter that concerns our national security.

He added that the persons who gave the passports to the foreigners should already be identified.

With this, Senator Nancy Binay and Senate Minority Leader Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III urged the National Bureau of Investigation to probe the matter.

Meanwhile, Pimentel urged Remulla to relay to the Executive Department his call for them to have a unanimous stand on POGO.

“Siguro, just an appeal to the secretary being a member of the Cabinet, siguro once and for all, I think the Executive Branch must come up with a stand on POGO. Address it once and for all kasi P3 billion ata ang nakokolekta natin dyan but what is the cost?” Pimentel said.

Remulla said he will “immediately speak to the executive secretary about this.”

Pimentel made the appeal after Remulla said they cannot make a position on POGO unlike the Department of Finance and the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) which said that POGOs should exit from the country.

“As a matter of policy, we do not really make policy in the DOJ about this. We look at the legal regime that governs the POGOs and that is our duty and so far, it is really the PAGCOR that has allowed the operation of POGOs in the country and as far as the legal regime is concerned, we have to respect that until there is a law that is passed outlawing these POGOs,” Remulla said.

While this is their position, the DOJ chief said they do not allow violations of other laws in our country such as the law against human trafficking.

However, Pimentel pointed out that the general legal principle on gambling is that all activities are illegal unless there is a law that allows it.

“Ang general rule, if I still remember it correctly, all gambling is illegal there must be a specific law that allows gambling. Baliktad ‘yan e. If there’s no law that allows gambling it is illegal, it is prohibited. That is as far as my law school knowledge is involved,” Pimentel said.

Remulla said Presidential Decree 1602 already prohibits gambling, a position echoed by Solicitor General Menardo Guevarra.

“What you said is a matter of policy but as the Secretary of Justice pointed out that there is a law that prohibits actually gambling subject to certain exceptions. So that is the present state of the law,” Guevarra, a former Justice chief, said.

Earlier, the Senate Committee on Ways and Means had recommended the immediate expulsion of POGOs from the country in a bid to help maintain peace and order and sustain economic growth. —NB, GMA Integrated News