PH to deport two of four high-profile Japanese fugitives
Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla says he’s satisfied with what the DOJ has accomplished in 10 days since getting the request for the deportation of the fugitives. (File photo by DANIZA FERNANDEZ / INQUIRER.net)
MANILA, Philippines — Two of the four high-profile Japanese fugitives in the country will be deported on Tuesday, Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla said Monday.
“Deportation will proceed tomorrow for the two,” Remulla told reporters.
He was referring to Imamura Kiyoto and Fujita Toshiya. Since the case against them have already been dismissed, they will be leaving ahead of Watanabe Yuki and Saito Tomonobu.
The four Japanese fugitives are wanted in their country for a series of robberies, theft, and fraud.
But Japanese authorities have discovered that “Luffy” — believed to be one of the four Japanese suspects — is still running the syndicate, operating remotely using an encrypted chat application from the detention facility of the Bureau of Immigration.
On Monday, the Department of Justice (DOJ) already met with the Bureau of Immigration and the Japanese Police attaché, a representative from the National Police Agency of Japan, and a representative of its government to facilitate Tuesday’s deportation.
Remulla said, although they had yet to deport the two other fugitives, he was satisfied with what they had managed to accomplish 10 days after the DOJ got the deportation request.
“We have set aside many of the obstacles thrown our way by the lawyers of the people to be deported — trying to delay or frustrate, or not only delay but to stop the deportation of the people. And we have overcome most of the obstacles,” he said.
“There are two left, we just have to bear with it. We just have to roll with the punches, so they say, because this is the way that the law works. We cannot be overly confident about things, but we just go about it every day, and face the problem every day,” Remulla added.
Watanabe and Saito’s case for violence against women and children remains pending before the Pasay City Regional Trial Court. The prosecutors have already filed a motion to withdraw the case. The court has yet to issue its ruling.
