The personnel of the Criminal Investigation and Detective Group and the Regional State Prosecutor here were charged in court in this city on Friday.
Lawyer Alejandro Pallugna has charged RSP Jaime Umpa and Chief Insp. Melgar Devaras, the CIDG acting chief in Northern Mindanao, with violation of the “Data Privacy Act of 2012.”
The case stemmed from the arrest of Genard Abejo, 49, an administrative assistant assigned to the City Prosecutor Office (CPO) here last month in connection with the alleged “fixing” of cases in the CPO.
Pallugna said that the CIDG and the members of the Cyber Crime team seized the mobile phone of Abejo and transcribed the messages, including those that were not part of the investigation without a proper court order.
He said that the action taken by the CIDG and the information released by the RSP to the local media has violated the privacy of Abejo.
RSP Jaime Umpa welcomed the filing of the charges and vowed that the prosecution would not be intimidated by the charges.
“The charges were part of the risk of our job as prosecutors. The case would not deter the CPO from ferreting out the truth and subsequently charged those found liable for the crime,” Umpa said.
He said that the CIDG and the Cyber Crime group has initially identified seven CPO who were directly or indirectly involved in the illegal fixing.
The CIDG collared Abejo while allegedly accepting “bribe money” intended for some city prosecutors in exchanged for the dismissal of an alleged rape during an entrapment operation here.
Seized from Abejo where the alleged marked money, his personal mobile phone, a motorcycle and copies of the alleged CPO resolution – already signed by one of the three prosecutors who were assigned to the case. (PNA)
