THE Department of Justice (DOJ) yesterday urged Congress to pass a law that would criminalize the “demanda me” scheme that it said is being used by foreigners arrested for violation of immigration laws to block their deportation from the country.
“We respectfully seek the wisdom of the Congress and Senate to pass legislation to stop their abusive practice. The DOJ is willing to provide all the necessary statistics, case studies, and other relevant information for consideration of the esteemed congressmen and senators,” the DOJ said in a statement.
It said that foreigners the scheme ploy by asking their girlfriends or friends to file a make-belief case against them in court, which would either delay or stop their deportation.
It noted that foreigners with pending complaints before the prosecutor’s office or the courts are not immediately deported until their cases are resolved and if found guilty, until after they have served their prison terms.
Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla, in a press briefing late Wednesday afternoon, said they have observed the pattern where after foreign fugitives are apprehended and taken into custody by the Bureau of Immigration, they are suddenly hauled to court for various cases.
“Napapaikutan ang ating legal system lalo na creative ang ilang lawyers sa atin at marami sa kanila ang gusto humawak sa mga immigration cases kasi easy money ito (They are able to fool the legal system especially since there are creative lawyers who want to handle immigration-related cases because these are easy money for them),” Remulla said.
The DOJ chief said they have also observed that the majority of the cases filed against these foreigners are either for violation of Republic Act 9262 or the Violence Against Women and Children’s Act, or estafa.
However, upon scrutiny, he said, the evidence always turn out to be weak or fabricated.
To recall, Remulla first bared the scheme early this year during the “Luffy’ controversy, where the DOJ and the BI sought to deport four Japanese nationals who were wanted by Japanese authorities for allegedly masterminding robbery cases and other illegal activities in Japan.
“Luffy” was the alias used by Yuki Watanabe, one of the four Japanese nationals deported early this year.
Watanabe and the three other Japanese fugitives allegedly used an encrypted messaging app inside the detention facility to communicate with their cohorts in their country for the robbery operation.
“There were 13 different cases in different prosecutor’s offices and courts all the way to Maguindanao that were filed against the Japanese early this year,” he said, adding that one of the cases for violation of the Violence Against Women and Children’s Act was filed by a girlfriend of one of the Japanese nationals.
But he said the girlfriend was seen regularly visiting her Japanese boyfriend in the BI detention facility.
Remulla said this proved that the filing of the case was contrived to prevent him from being deported.
