Department of Justice (DOJ) Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla on Wednesday said that the DOJ will ask the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) to investigate lawyers involved in filing “contrived” charges against fugitive foreigners to stop their deportation.
Remulla made the statement after the issue on “contrived” charges surfaced where some unscrupulous lawyers filed charges against fugitive Japanese nationals in the custody of the Bureau of Immigration to prevent their deportation.
Under the law, foreigners with cases filed in courts cannot be deported until the cases are resolved.
Thereafter, the findings and recommendations of the IBP would be forwarded to the Supreme Court (SC) which has the power to discipline lawyers, he said.
In particular, Remulla cited the cases of four Japanese nationals who were in BI custody and who had been charged in various courts in the country. The erstwhile pendency of the court cases had prevented their immediate deportation.
However, with the dismissal of their cases, two of them—Imamura Kiyoto and Fujita Toshiya—were deported to Japan last Tuesday, Feb. 7. The two others—Tomonobu Saito and Yuki Watanabe–are set for deportation tonight, February 8.
The DOJ said the four Japanese nationals had been “identified by
Japanese police to be the leaders of a criminal organization in their home country and have been charged with robbery and theft” and are “considered fugitives from justice.” It also said the Japanese government had sought their deportation.
Japan meanwhile lauded the Philippines for its “constructive response” when Manila deported on Tuesday two Japanese fugitives wanted for strings of robberies and fraud in their country.
In a statement, the Japanese Embassy in Manila has expressed appreciation on the response and cooperation of Philippine authorities to pave the way for deportation of Japanese fugitives.
“We appreciate the constructive response and cooperation of the related agencies of the Philippines Government to realize deportation of two of them. Embassy of Japan is unable to comment on deportation schedule of the remaining two of them,” the embassy said, in a statement on Wednesday morning.
The statement came after it made a request to the Philippine government for the early deportation of four Japanese nationals detained at the Bureau of Immigration. Two of the remaining fugitives are set to be deported immediately.
Fujita Toshiya and Imamura Kiyoto were escorted by Japanese police when they boarded a flight bound for Tokyo from Manila at around 9:30 am of Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Watanabe Yuki and Saito Tomonobu are expected to be deported soon.
According to the Department of Justice (DOJ), the four were “identified by Japanese police to be the leaders of a criminal organization in their home country and have been charged with robbery and theft” and are “considered fugitives from justice.”
All were held at the BI detention facility at Camp Bagong Diwa, where they were caught with 24 cell phones that might have been used to run “criminal enterprises” in their home country, DOJ Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla said.