‘We act based on evidence’, DOJ exec says on POGO allegations

In a media interview, DOJ spokesperson Assistant Secretary Mico Clavano said they immediately evaluates all cases regardless of the respondent. (File photo: Department of Justice – Philippines/Facebook)

MANILA – The Department of Justice (DOJ) on Thursday said it would fairly evaluate the cases involving figures linked to illegal Philippine Online Gaming Operators (POGO) and would act based on available evidence.

In a media interview, DOJ spokesperson Assistant Secretary Mico Clavano said they immediately evaluates all cases regardless of the respondent.

This came following reports that a former Cabinet official allegedly lobbied for illegal POGOs in the country.

“As long as there is evidence, i-file nila (they should file it) and they will name the Cabinet official, it’s not for the DOJ to name them. It’s not also our business to give our opinion on certain issues but we are and we will always be evidence based so as long as may evidence yan, there is no choice but to file the case we will make sure that it is properly evaluated and filed in court,” Clavano said.

The same principle also applies for suspended Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo, he added.

“Once the case is filed with the prosecutor, agad-agad po yan ine-evaluate ng mga fiskal natin (it will be evaluated by our fiscals promptly). And once the complaint is sufficient in form and substance, that is the time that the fiscal will schedule the first hearing on the preliminary investigation,” he said.

Last month, the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) and the Philippine National Police-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP-CIDG) filed a complaint against Guo and others for alleged human trafficking in connection to the raided POGO hub in her municipality.

Commenting on reports of alleged torture in POGO hubs, Clavano said persons who file charges must support these with sufficient evidence.

“Pag ganyan po kasi, pag may ebidensya tayo at may nangyaring krimen, hindi naman natin sila dini-disallow na mag-file. File sila ng file basta may ebidensya. And once it’s received by the prosecutor, as long as it reaches the new threshold of evidence, which is the reasonable certainty of conviction, ipa-file ka agad yan sa korte. So passive po kasi ang DOJ sa mga kaso (As long as there is evidence and something actually happened, we do not disallow the filing. They can file as long as there is evidence as long as it reached the new threshold of evidence which is the reasonable certainty of conviction so we can file it before the courts),” he added.