Philippines to return 1 of 4 robbery suspects to Japan in coming days --- Kyodo News

MANILA — One of the 4 suspects believed to be behind a string of robberies across Japan is expected to be returned from the Philippines in the next few days, the Southeast Asian country's justice minister said Tuesday. The other 3 suspects requested by Tokyo for transfer to Japan will be sent once certain conditions are fulfilled, Philippine Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla said at a press conference. The 4 men, who are currently in detention at an immigration facility in Manila, are believed to have remotely coordinated a series of robberies in Japan that began last year using an encrypted messaging app. Remulla said that communications devices including phones had been confiscated from the suspects, and that one of them had owned 6 mobile phones. The 4 men likely include a person or persons thought to have masterminded the robberies under the names "Luffy" and "Kim." Tokyo has sought the transfer of the 4 after Japanese police obtained arrest warrants on suspicion of theft in connection with a scam targeting elderly people in Japan. Among the 4 detained in the facility, 38-year-old Yuki Watanabe was allegedly one of the leaders of the fraud group, which stole some 3.5 billion yen ($27 million) in around 2,300 cases between November 2018 and June 2020, police said. Upon their return to Japan, police will arrest the 4 over the alleged scams and also investigate their suspected involvement in a string of robberies that have taken place across Japan since last year, including a Jan. 19 case in the suburban city of Komae in Tokyo that led to the death of 90-year-old Kinuyo Oshio.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

PCG: China’s bullying in West Philippine Sea undermines international law --- Ghio Ong - The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines — Letting China sustain its aggression in the West Philippine Sea would make other countries doubt the strength of international law currently being asserted by the Philippines, Commodore Jay Tarriela of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said. “Allowing China to blatantly disregard the established rules-based order threatens the very foundation that we all depend on,” he wrote in a post on X last Tuesday. He added, “If we permit this, countries worldwide may forget why this order was created in the first place. Nations could begin to doubt the significance of adhering to international law if powerful bullies can easily violate it.” Tarriela also said defiance of other countries to a rules-based order would result in the prevalence of cruelty. He wrote, “This could lead us back to a time when might makes right, undermining the global structures that keep human greed, savagery and barbarism in check. Such a scenario would not only invite challenges from aggressive ...
Read more

China ships maintain presence in key West Philippine Sea areas --- Michael Punongbayan - The Philippine Star

STAR / Michael Varcas MANILA, Philippines — While Chinese vessels in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) have decreased in number, they have maintained a presence in three key land features where naval and coast guard ships have intensified operations in the past seven days, according to the Philippine Navy. Latest monitoring by the Philippine Navy showed armed ships of the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) maintaining a menacing presence around the grounded BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin Shoal, Panatag Shoal and Escoda Shoal. According to the Philippine Navy, there are 17 Chinese military vessels and 28 China Coast Guard (CCG) boats spotted inside the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) between Sept. 23 and 30, or one vessel more than in the previous week Sept.17-23. Five of the warships were seen roaming around the vicinity of Escoda Shoal, along with 10 CCG vessels and 12 maritime militia vessels (MMVs). There are also two PLAN ships in Ayungin Shoal as well as 10 CCG boats and 12...
Read more

Social media seen as cause of rising intermarriages --- Helen Flores - The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO) sees social media as the main reason for the rising number of Filipinos marrying or becoming partners of foreign nationals. In 2022, the CFO recorded 6,854 marriages or partnerships with foreign nationals, a 40.1 percent increase from the 4,891 “intermarriages” recorded in 2021. “First of all, what we see in the increase in the marriage rate of Filipinos or Filipinos with foreign partners is because of social media, (that) is number one; matchings; letters, introduction of their friends,” CFO chairperson Romulo Arugay said at the Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon public briefing yesterday. Arugay said the agency has been registering a high number of intermarriages since 2007, but the figures went down during the COVID-19 pandemic. From over 6,500 Filipinos who married foreign nationals, only 600 are men, he said. Most of them are married to Americans, Japanese, Germans, Canadians and Australians, Arugay said. Arugay warned Fi...
Read more