Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin “Boying” Remulla yesterday said that two of the four Japanese fugitives in the custody of the Bureau of Immigration will be deported today, 7 February.
“Two are sure to be deported, but hopefully we can deport everyone also by tomorrow,” Remulla said Monday. He did not identify those set for deportation.
The four had been tagged by the Japanese media and authorities for their alleged involvement in robberies back home — through instructions they reportedly gave to their gangs through encrypted smartphone messages.
Escorts sent by the Japanese government to bring home the fugitives were set to arrive yesterday, Remulla said.
The deportation of the four was paved by the Department of Justice withdrawing the criminal information filed against them before local courts.
Earlier, Remulla warned lawyers of foreign nationals hiding in the Philippines not to abet the filing of “contrived” cases against their clients with the objective of stopping their deportation.
Most of the dubious cases filed against foreign fugitives in the country involved alleged violations of the law penalizing violence against women and their children.
In some instances, the girlfriends of the fugitives were suspected of filing the charges so their foreign partners could escape deportation during the pendency of the court hearings.
Japanese embassy officials in Manila met last 30 January with Remulla to seek the deportation of the four detained at the BI detention center in Taguig City, including their alleged gang leader “Luffy.”
Remulla immediately ordered the confiscation of the four’s smartphones and tasked the National Bureau of Investigation to probe BI personnel for allowing them to have phones while in detention.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. leaves tomorrow, 8 February, for an official working visit to Japan.