JUSTICE Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla yesterday said two of the four Japanese in the custody of the Bureau of Investigation who are wanted by Tokyo for alleged involvement in a string of crimes may be deported soon.
Remulla, however, did not identify the two.
“Maybe two first and then the other two because we want their (local) cases to attain finality before we deport them because that’s in accordance with the law,” Remulla told reporters in an ambush interview yesterday afternoon.
He said the two have been “already cleared” of their cases, paving the way for their deportation.
“I cannot give you the details but we have cleared two already out of the four,” he said, adding another hearing will be held today to dismiss the cases.
“That’s why we are confident that we can already send two back home as soon as possible,” he added.
He said of the eight or nine cases lodged against the Japanese, around five or six had been dismissed.
“We have to be patient with the process. Even if we wanted to produce results immediately, we are not taking any shortcuts here. We just have to follow the process,” he added.
Remulla said the DOJ is working “daily on this matter and we expect to have good results in a few days.”
“I cannot give you a date now but it will happen soon, very soon,” he said, adding “hopefully” it would be before President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. visits Japan on February 8 to 12.
Efforts of the DOJ to have the case against one of the Japanese —Yuki Watanabe alias “Luffy” — junked had been dismissed by the Pasay City Regional Trial Court, meaning he will not be deported immediately.
Watanabe faces a case for violation of Republic Act 9262 or the Anti-Violence Against Women and Children’s Act (VAWC).
Watanabe’s lawyer, Enjun Rico, said the court has set another hearing on the case on February 7.
Japanese police have sought the deportation of Watanabe, the alleged mastermind of robberies in several prefectures in Japan, and three other men.
Watanabe and the three others are also the subject of deportation proceedings by the Bureau of Immigration.
Remulla said Watanabe has a summary deportation order dated May 28, 2021 for being an illegal entrant and a fugitive from justice in connection with the use of counterfeit documents and theft charges in Japan.
The suspects are allegedly using an encrypted messaging app inside detention to communicate with their cohorts in Japan.
Remulla earlier said they are expediting the deportation proceedings against Watanabe and the three others on the request of Japanese authorities.
But pending court cases against them here are complicating their deportation.
