It is still premature to utilize a state witness against those involved in the illegal Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO) case, an official of the Department of Justice (DOJ) said on Saturday.
According to DOJ Undersecretary Raul Vasquez, only the court can declare someone a “state witness” upon the recommendation of the prosecutors.
“That is too premature to say,” Vasquez told the weekly news forum in Quezon City. “(D)ahil na sa preliminary investigation pa lamang iyan eh, and normally ang pagbibigay ng state witness ay na sa korte at pagkatapos na makita ng prosecution kung sino diyan ang puwedeng maging witness. Maging importanteng, importanteng witness na makapag-tahi, tahi at ma-justify niya iyong lahat na nangyari para lalong titibay ang kaso laban sa mga tunay at mastermind or iyong mga—the people who already committed the crime,” he pointed out.
Vasquez, however, noted that since the case against those involved in POGO is still ongoing, including dismissed Bamban, Tarlac mayor Alice Guo and others, the investigation against those who supposedly facilitated their escape, possibly involving some officials of the Bureau of Immigration (BI), is not yet finished.
“Tuloy po, hintayin ninyo iyon susunod na kabanata sa bagay na iyon , ongoing may mga taong mananagot talaga diyan, kasi—lalo na tinitingnan kung alin ba talaga iyong nangyari, ano ba talaga iyong paraan na ginawa nila, iyan ba ay dumaan sa ating mga airports or seaports, iyan ba ay dumaan sa mga private ports, ang dami kasing private ports eh sa Pilipinas. Remember that we are a maritime country, so it is so easy to take the backdoors who to speak,” Vasquez said.
Vasquez stressed he will not reveal the immigration officials involved in the escape of Guo and others.
“Basta kung sinuman na law enforcement na nagkaroon ng pagkakamali or worst nakipag-sabwatan o anuman hindi nila ginampanan iyong kanilang trabaho ay mananagot po sila, after investigation. Let’s give that to the law enforcement para may basehan ho naman iyong mga aksiyon administratibo and even criminal kung saka-sakaling maipakita na may criminal acts na ginawa laban sa mga taong iyan,” he said.
Vasquez also claimed the story of Alice’s sister Shiela is hard to believe.
“Ang biruan nga namin eh, iyong sa istorya ni Shiela (Guo) parang nanood yata ng (movie) ‘Bourne Legacy’ ‘di ba iyong sa ending, papuntang Malaysia iyon eh. So, barko pa ang—fishing boat ang ginamit, so probably ang sabi niya kasi tatlong araw daw na ganoon na ang sinakyan nila. Tanong? Puwede bang pumayag ba iyong dalawa o iyong tatlo si Shiela, si Alice, at saka si Wesley (Guo) pumayag ba sila na ganoong klaseng sasakyan the comforts and all,” Vasquez remarked.
He said that some consider this statement as a deflection or as a way to divert the discussion from the issue.
“So, you could see that there are certain unseen factors that came into place. I don’t know, and that’s the subject of the investigation now kung how that was managed; was there connivance; was there actions by criminal syndicates – we don’t know. But that is an active ongoing police investigation ng NBI (National Bureau of Investigation) at saka PNP (Philippine National Police),” Vasquez said. PND
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