Stricter treatment for corrupt DOJ employees

Employees of the Department of Justice (DOJ), the lead agency of the government’s anticorruption drive, will be subjected to tougher “treatment under the laws” after one of them was held for allegedly extorting P1 million from a customs broker, Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said on Saturday. “The DOJ is the principal agency mandated to administer criminal justice,” Guevarra said. “Thus, any [employee] of the DOJ, in whatever capacity or status, who gets involved in criminal activities should expect a stricter treatment under the laws that he is duty-bound to enforce and implement,” he said. Guevarra issued the statement following the arrest of Louie Miranda, a contractual employee of the DOJ’s Witness Protection Program, by agents of the National Bureau of Investigation. —Marlon Ramos