DOJ eyes deportation of Japanese fugitives by next week

The Philippine government is eyeing to deport the Japanese fugitives who are wanted for theft in Japan by next week, Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla said Friday.

Remulla 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.

“And then the other ones will be heard on Tuesday morning and we expect to start deporting by next week,” he said in an ambush interview.

The Justice secretary said 10 to 11 cases were filed against the Japanese fugitives, of which seven have been dismissed.

“So maybe three more cases to go. But at least in the one week we’ve been doing it, we’ve been able to move forward with the process of deportation,” he said.

According to Remulla, it is not sure whether they will deport the fugitives by Monday or Tuesday but it will “definitely start next week.“

“Whatever date is, when we’re ready, when the tickets are there, when the escorts are there, then we start deporting because they have to be escorted back to Japan,” he said.

Japan asked the Philippine government 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.

Remulla, however, said the country cannot deport anyone with a pending criminal case.

The Taguig Metropolitan Trial Court said Friday a case for light threat against Fujita has been dismissed.

Meanwhile, the Bureau of Immigration has relieved from their posts the head and other personnel of its warden facility after six cell phones were retrieved from one of the Japanese fugitives.—AOL, GMA Integrated News