Palace takes De Lima's word on deportation of Taiwanese

MANILA, Philippines –  Malacañang said yesterday it was taking the word of Justice Secretary Leila de Lima that there was nothing irregular in the deportation of 14 Taiwanese to China last February since the issue was separate from the dismissal of criminal charges against them.

Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said an investigation was still ongoing because of pending cases before the Court of Appeals.

“The Senate also has plans to investigate the incident. So as of the moment, we are relying on the findings of the secretary of justice where she made a distinction between the process undertaken in the deportation and the meat of the case of the complaint,” Valte said over radio dzRB.

“We are abiding by the resolution of the secretary of justice insofar as she has made that distinction between those two separate issues,” she said.

Earlier, Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning Office Secretary Ricky Carandang assured the public that the government would take the appropriate action once the cases involving the 14 Taiwanese nationals deported to Beijing had been ruled with finality.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) dismissed the criminal charges filed against 14 Taiwanese fugitives and 10 other Chinese citizens who were earlier deported to China.

The deportation triggered a rift between the Philippines and Taiwan, which demanded custody of their nationals.

Taipei demanded an apology from Manila because of the incident.

Carandang said at present, there was still a presumption of regularity on the part of Philippine authorities.

“There is an investigation ongoing to determine if there were those who really committed mistakes. Until that investigation is complete, and until the facts are fully established, then our position will not change,” he said.

Carandang said the DOJ probe was part of the process and “when the process is complete, we will take appropriate actions, whatever that actions may be.”

In two separate resolutions issued Thursday, the DOJ had dismissed the charges of syndicated estafa and violation of Republic Act 8484 (Access Devices Regulations Act of 1998) that the National Bureau of Investigation and the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China had filed against the 24 suspects.

The 14 Taiwanese were arrested in Makati City last December for large-scale fraud victimizing mostly Chinese from China, Taiwan and Hong Kong.

The DOJ has found no probable cause to indict the deported Taiwanese and Chinese suspects for allegedly operating in the country online activities that had defrauded citizens from China of over $20 million.

“After a careful evaluation of the records of this case, the undersigned investigating prosecutor finds the evidence presented by the complainant insufficient to establish probable cause against herein respondents for the crime charged,” stated the resolution signed by acting State Prosecutor Gerard Gaerlan.

The DOJ resolution came a month after the 24 fraud suspects were flown to Beijing after they were deported despite the pending criminal case against them in the Philippines.

The deportation also disregarded a writ of habeas corpus issued by the Court of Appeals in favor of six of the Taiwanese.

The DOJ ruling also showed that the allegations against the suspects, for which they stand to face trial in Beijing, had no basis insofar as their alleged operations here were concerned.