Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla on Monday said two, maybe four, Japanese fugitives who are wanted in Japan are set to be deported on today (Tuesday).
The Bureau of Immigration (BI) also said it is prioritizing the deportation of the four Japanese nationals wanted in their homeland.
Remulla said he expects Japanese government representatives to arrive in Manila within the day to escort the deportees back home.
Remulla stressed that sending out only is the “worst case scenario,” but hinted at the possibility of deporting all four today.
In an interview, the Secretary said the Department of Justice (DOJ) will “change plans” if things did not go as originally intended.
“Yes we can, we will. Hopefully tomorrow, everybody. The worst case scenario is only two tomorrow, but we are working for everybody to be deported tomorrow,” Remulla said, when asked if the deportation of the Japanese nationals could happen before President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., leaves for a working visit in Japan on February 8.
The Japanese government has asked Manila to deport four of its citizens suspected of directing a series of robberies there while detained in the Philippines.
The alleged masterminds, identified in Japanese media as Kiyoto Imamura and Yuki Watanabe, were arrested respectively in 2019 and 2021. Japanese police said the two could be sharing the alias “Luffy,” after a character in the Japanese manga “One Piece.” The other two are Toshiya Fujita and Tomonobu Kojima.
But Remulla earlier said the government cannot deport anyone with a pending criminal case in Philippine courts.
He said two of the four Japanese nationals have been cleared of all pending cases in the country, while the other two have one pending case each.
However, Remulla described the pending cases as “contrived” filed only for the purpose of delaying the deportation process against the respondents to evade prosecution in their country.
“His counsel seems to want to oppose the dismissal, so you can see that it’s a very unique situation here that they would rather stay here, to face charges here than to face charges in Japan,” Remulla explained.
Hopefully, the case will be resolved favorably in favor of the government interest to deport the two Japanese who are still not yet cleared as of now,” he said.
“It’s possible that they would just plead guilty to the charges just not to be brought to Japan, but still they will be brought to Japan because if they are sentenced here, we will ask the Japanese government to just respect the sentence and have it carried out in Japanese territory. So, we will still deport them no matter what,” Remulla added.
“While I’m not able to share information about their scheduled deportation at this moment, while the details are being finalized, this is actually a priority activity by the BI and also by the Department of Justice (DOJ),” BI spokesperson Dana Sandoval in a Laging Handa briefing.
“The two agencies are working together to speed up the deportation process of these four foreigners so that they can be returned to their country so they can face the charges against them,” Sandoval added.
“We want them deported for the cases against them to move forward. Their arrest is definitely a win for the Philippine government because it means we are able to rid our country of these unwanted, illegal, undesirable aliens that attempt to use our country to evade justice,” she added.
Sandoval said the government is coordinating with the Japanese embassy on the matter.
“They are very helpful in the arrangement of their deportation and of course, the DOJ that will do everything necessary to expedite their deportation,” Sandoval said. “We actually have a coordination meeting later today with the DOJ together with the concerned agencies to discuss, to have an updated on these cases and to see if we are ready to implement the deportation,” she added.
Meanwhile, the Tokyo police will dispatch some 15 investigators to the Philippines as early as Monday, the sources said.