DOJ prosecutors junk obstruction of justice complaint vs. father of POI in Salilig case

Department of Justice prosecutors have dismissed the complaint for obstruction of justice against the father of a person of interest in the death of alleged hazing victim John Matthew Salilig.

In an ambush interview on Friday, Justice spokesperson Mico Clavano said the complaint against the father was dismissed for lack of probable cause with reasonable certainty of conviction.

“I haven’t read the resolution myself… all I know is that the resolution was for dismissal. It did not reach the level of probable cause with reasonable certainty of conviction,” he said.

The Justice Department has recently raised the standard of evidence provided in cases with Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla ordering prosecutors to recommend the withdrawal of pending criminal cases that have no reasonable certainty of conviction in first-level courts.

Meanwhile, Clavano said the father will be released immediately.

Asked if the Biñan City Police has already been informed, the Justice spokesperson said, “I’m not sure if they’ve been informed although this is the latest updated that I got from the panel of prosecutors.”

The body of the 24-year-old chemical engineering student Salilig was found Tuesday in a shallow grave in Imus.

On Thursday, the Biñan City Police filed a complaint against the father for obstruction of justice and a complaint for violation of the Anti-Hazing Law against six individuals linked to the death of Salilig.

According to Clavano, seven have already surrendered out of the 15 persons of interest in the case, including the alleged master initiator who surfaced on Thursday.

Earlier, police authorities said three more persons of interest have inquired about the procedures for surrender.

“Siguro ang message na lang po natin sa mga schools, school authorities, the barangay officials is to cooperate in the, I guess, the hunt for the rest of the respondents who have been identified already,” Clavano said.

“So we encourage the school authorities to help our law enforcement agencies if ever there are requests for any information sa school to please cooperate so that we can get to the bottom of this case as soon as possible,” he added.—AOL, GMA Integrated News