Department of Justice Secretary Vitaliano N. Aguirre II said yesterday there is no reason yet to arrest businessman Alexander Wongchuking despite President Duterte’s order to arrest the Mighty Corp. owner.
“At the time of our meeting yesterday (Tuesday) there were no cases filed against Mr. Alex Wongchuking yet, that is why I did not order his arrest,” explained Aguirre in a statement.
“There is no reason to have Alex Wongchuking arrested as of the moment,” Aguirre reiterated. “While the Department of Justice is at the forefront of ensuring that our laws be faithfully obeyed, there is a process that has to be observed under the law,” he pointed out.
Wongchuking, accompanied by his lawyers, met Aguirre and National Bureau of Investigation Director Dante Gierran Tuesday after the President ordered his arrest Monday.
During his meeting with Wongchuking, Aguirre recounted that the businessman “expressed his willingness to fully cooperate with any investigation that may involve him.”
Aguirre believes that “the proper thing to do is for the representatives of Mighty Corp., the Department of Finance, the Bureau of Internal Revenue, the Bureau of Customs, and the DoJ to sit down and to fully determine the exact liabilities of Mighty Corp. if any and for the government to collect what is rightfully due to it.”
“If the DoF or the BIR or the BoC will determine that a criminal case should be filed against Mighty Corp., its officers, or against Alex Wongchuking with us at the DoJ, then we will faithfully discharge our duty and determine if probable cause exists,” Aguirre said.
Duterte ordered the arrest of Wongchuking after the BoC confiscated a huge haul of tobacco products with counterfeit tax stamps. Wongchuking denied that the cigarettes are fake. (Jeffrey G. Damicog)