De Lima mum on gov’t efforts to bring Amalilio back to PH

Justice Secretary Leila De Lima. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—Justice Secretary Leila De Lima kept mum on government efforts to bring Aman Futures Group head Manuel Amalilio back to the Philippines but cited media reports as among the reasons why his deportation was prevented by Malaysian authorities.

Amalilio was supposed to return to the Philippines last Friday evening but Malaysian authorities stopped Amalilio from boarding the plane back to Manila.

“If you are asking for updates on Amalilio, I beg your understanding and indulgence [but] we cannot be sharing those information at this point,” De Lima told reporters in a chance interview Wednesday.

“We are undertaking steps both diplomatic and mutual police cooperation to ensure  we can get him. As to time frame, we do not want to make any commitment and we cannot be sharing those information, ‘’ she said.

De Lima added that media reports on the event especially in Kota Kinabalu contributed to last Friday’s development.

“Now, we prefer to be on the safe side and be cautious, huwag na muna ibalita para ma-facilitate ang mga proseso (let’s not report on it for a while in order to facilitate the process ,” she said.

After Amalilio was prevented from leaving Malaysia, the NBI were forced to return to Manila Friday evening.