SC: No judges involved in alleged leak of Porac POGO raid

The Supreme Court (SC) on Wednesday said it found that no judges were involved in the alleged leakage of information regarding a raid on a Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (POGO) firm in Porac, Pampanga last June.

"We made preliminary inquiries but we did not get positive results that judges are involved. We did look into that issue," Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo said.

In June, authorities arrested a total of 58 Chinese, Vietnamese, and Malaysians during the raid at the POGO compound in Porac.

However, an official of the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) said more than 1,000 individuals were expected to be arrested, expressing concern that information on the operation may have been leaked.

Senator Sherwin Gatchalian later said the raid's result showed the possible influence of Chinese syndicates in the judiciary.

This prompted the SC to conduct its own investigation into the matter.

According to Gesmundo, there have been no similar incidents since.

"Wala naman na kaming nakita after that incident (We have not monitored other incidents after that)," he said.

"Because we made sure that—I think [SC Associate] Justice Midas [Marquez]—already instructed the judges to be very careful when they do address the applications for search warrants by law enforcement," he added.

The Chief Justice said the high tribunal has warned both judges and court employees not to engage in things that would "compromise the integrity" of the court.

"But I assure you, we warned our court employees and our judges from time to time not to engage in something that, you know, compromise the integrity of the court. That is a constant reminder on our part," he said. — VDV, GMA Integrated News