Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla on Monday criticized the Philippine National Police Anti-Cybercrime Group (PNP-ACG) for its alleged lapses in the raid of a Philippine offshore gaming operator (POGO) firm in Las Pinas.

In a press briefing, Remulla said the Chinese nationals were “released for further investigation”.

He criticized the PNP-ACG for allegedly being unable to coordinate with the Department of Justice before conducting the raid.

“They will arrest suspects even without cases. What will they do, make up a case? The DOJ will not allow that,” Remulla told reporters.

“The DOJ (Department of Justice) and the Anti-Cybercrime Group of the PNP discussed that before they act, they should have a case build-up so that before they conduct a raid or arrest suspects they should have concrete evidence against them,” he said.

“But they did not follow this procedure. They proceeded with the raid, so now they have many cases they could not file because they do not have complete evidence,” he added.

Remulla said the cops did not state specific acts or specific grounds to arrest the suspects.

“They just keep raiding. They just entered the premises as if they were fishing,” he said.

The five Chinese nationals identified by the police as Li Jiacheng, Xiao Liu, Yan Jiayong, Duan Haozhuan, and LP Hongkun, went through inquest proceedings on June 30.

The suspects were apprehended after police saved around 3,000 people from a building in Las Pinas City.

Among the victims,1534 were Filipinos while 1,190 were Vietnamese, Singaporean, Malaysians, and Chinese.

Remulla said that 1,000 have remained in the Philippines.

He said the Filipino victims have been sent to their homes while they are canceling the processing of visas of the foreign nationals.

Remulla said he has not talked to PNP Chief General Benjamin Acorda, Jr since the time he returned from his heart bypass surgery. Jaspearl Tan/DMS