MANILA — The Philippines may not be able to meet its initial target of deporting within the week 2 of 4 Japanese nationals tagged in a series of robberies in Japan, the Department of Justice said Wednesday.

Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin “Boying” Remulla told Japanese and Filipino media in a chance interview it’s “not possible” to have the deportations done by the weekend.

Remulla earlier said on Tuesday that authorities were looking at deporting 1 Japanese detainee by today and another by Friday.

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But DOJ spokesperson Assiatant Secretary Mico Clavano clarified that won’t happen.

“Not today because we’re going to accede to the request of the Japanese Embassy to send them all at the same time,” he said.

Clavano explained that while 1 of the 4 Japanese detainees has been cleared of any case, the 3 others still have pending cases in local courts.

The prosecution has already moved for the dismissal of these cases. One detainee will have a hearing on Thursday while 2 will have their own motion to dismiss hearings on Friday.

Deportation proceedings could not be conducted if the subjects of deportation still have pending cases in Philippine courts.

But Clavano said there is now a “direction” given by the DOJ to the National Prosecution Service to use their discretion to see if the cases against the subjects of a request for deportation are “contrived” and warrant a dismissal.

Remulla on Tuesday slammed lawyers who allegedly allowed themselves to be used to file contrived cases against foreign nationals in a ruse to keep them in the country.

NO ASSURANCE AS TO TIMELINE

The DOJ is hoping the motions to dismiss will be resolved soon but Clavano said it is uncertain if they will be resolved in time for President Bongbong Marcos’ trip to Japan on Feb. 8.

“There’s no real assurance. The only commitment that the Secretary made to the Japanese government and the Embassy was that he would expedite as much as possible because obviously some of the cases are in court already and we don’t control their discretion in the judiciary side,” he said.

“So we have to file the necessary motion through our prosecution service and it’s up to judge whether they will dismiss the case or not,” he added.

Clavano declined to divulge details as to the names and the schedule of the hearings of the Japanese subject for deportation, citing the Japanese government’s request.

“We have to help the Japanese Embassy and the Japanese government preserve the integrity of their investigation,” he explained.

But Clavano confirmed a certain Yuki Watanabe is among the 4 Japanese up for deportation.

According to the Japanese police, Watanabe is alleged to be “Luffy,” the supposed ringleader of a robbery gang in Japan that orchestrated crimes through an encrypted messaging app while detained in Manila.

He has been under BI custody since 2021.

On Tuesday, Remulla said it is possible some Japanese nationals may have run “criminal enterprises” from the Philippines after authorities seized several communication devices from Immigration detainees, with one of them yielding 6 iPhones.

• DOJ chief says Japanese detainees may have run crime ring from Philippine jail

Clavano said they have segregated the cellphones and kept them under BI custody.

“Obviously, the cellphones are huge point of interest because it’s possible, very possible that a lot of evidence and messages will show a pattern if in case it’s really related to the criminal organization that is suspected,” he said.

“As to that, the offer is still there for the Japanese government to come and send their police to conduct forensic examination on the cellphones. Although no firm schedule or firm arrangement has yet been set,” he explained.

Clavano revealed the BI initially tapped the National Bureau of Investigation to do the forensic examination of the confiscated cellphones but the NBI declined “because that needs a court order here in the country.”

“Since it’s already a Japanese issue, we would rather that they take care of this case, seeing that the cases here seems to be contrived anyway and the cases there are the real cases against these Japanese nationals, we would rather that they take a look at the evidence, that they take a look at the cellphones,” Clavano said.

The series of robberies became a big story in Japan, a country known for its low crime rates.

A 90-year-old woman was reported killed in one of the robberies.

• DOJ to probe BI personnel for Japan robberies allegedly run from inside detention facilities

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