Department of Justice (DOJ)
MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Justice (DOJ) will ask the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) to investigate lawyers involved in filing “contrived” or invented charges against fugitive foreigners to delay their deportation to their home country.
“The Integrated Bar of the Philippines will now conduct its own investigation as to the practice of delaying cases (by filing) contrived cases. That should not happen anymore,“ Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla told reporters on Wednesday.
The issue surfaced following the deportation of four high-profile Japanese fugitives who were only cleared for deportation after various courts in the country junked the local cases filed against them.
Foreigners with cases filed in courts cannot be deported until the cases are resolved.