JUSTICE Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla yesterday warned that perjury and obstruction of justice raps will be filed against witnesses who refuse to testify or complete their testimony after being rescued from illegal online gaming industry firms.
Remulla said their refusal is one of the reasons why cases filed against illegal recruiters and human traffickers in Philippine Offshore Gaming Operations (POGOs) are taking a long time to be decided by the courts.
He also said that around 1,000 individuals rescued in the Las Pinas raid on a POGO firm last June 27 are still to be processed.
The raid on Xinchuang Network Technology Inc. led to the rescue of 2,773 workers — 1,534 Filipinos and 1,239 foreign workers from various countries in South East Asia, the Middle East and Africa.
Remulla said authorities are coordinating with embassies to hasten the repatriation of their citizens rescued in the raid.
He said cases filed against their recruiters are being stymied by the refusal of witnesses, who acted as complainants and were even examined by a judge for the issuance of search warrants, to testify.
“Our cases are being affected since many of them refused to testify. Once they are rescued, they declined to testify and said they just wanted to go home,” Remulla told reporters in a briefing.
He said his office is looking to file complaints against the witnesses to force them to complete their testimony until the resolution of the cases.
“Right now, we are looking at the law and there is a provision stating that no one can retract a statement when it comes to human trafficking. So most probably, what we will do is file cases against witnesses who refused to testify,” he said, adding they could be charged with perjury and obstruction of justice.
Remulla lamented that despite repeated raids and rescue operations, human trafficking continues to hound the online gaming industry.
He said that once a witness is gone, the prosecutor has no choice but to release the suspect for further investigation.
Five Chinese who were arrested in the Las Pinas raid were released after undergoing inquest proceedings at the DOJ last June 30. They were identified as Li Jiacheng, alias Li Jiachang, Xiao Liu, alias Xiao Lin, Yan Jiayong, alias Pan Wen Jie, Duan Haozhuan, and LP Hongkun, alias Li Yang.
“We will talk to the fiscal not to allow anymore this kind of thing, that if they executed and signed a statement, they should be held accountable for it. That’s the problem here, you filed a case but once they are allowed to go home, they refused to testify,” he said, adding it will now be DOJ policy to charge witnesses who refuse to testify or complete their testimony.
He said they should be held accountable for their refusal considering the government is spending resources, such as for food, while they are being held.
Remulla also said he will meet with the PNP-Anti-Cybercrime Group this Friday to discuss the Las Piñas raid.
Remulla had earlier slammed the PNP-ACG for allegedly failing to coordinate with the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT) before conducting the Las Pinas raid.
