INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines – A Palace official on Monday said that while the government is working to curb smuggling, it must first gather enough evidence to pin down smugglers in court.
“Patuloy naman po ang pagtutok ng ating Department of Justice (DOJ) at NBI (National Bureau of Investigation) sa usapin na iyan…patuloy ang pagkalap ng katibayan para makapag-buo po ng matibay na kaso,” Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma said over Inquirer Radio 990AM.
(The DOJ and the NBI continue to monitor the issue of rice smuggling…the gathering of evidence to strengthen cases is ongoing.)
Coloma said that the Bureau of Immigration already issued a lookout bulletin against Davidson Bangayan or David Tan, an alleged big-time rice smuggler.
Coloma said the courts will be able to curb smuggling in the country, as long as there is strong and concrete evidence backing the case.
“Ang guideline ng Pangulo (Benigno Aquino III) ay kinakailangang tumalima tayo sa ebidensya,” he said, when asked what the President’s “marching orders” were in relation to David Tan.
(President Benigno Aquino III’s guideline is to abide by the law and the evidence.)
He said it is not enough to talk about the issue. Instead, government should have a concrete basis to raise the issue to the courts and hold the suspects accountable.