Palace wants news blackout on Amalilio return

MANILA -- Malacañang on Wednesday said it supports a news blackout over the return of Manuel Amalilio, the head of investment company Aman Futures, to the Philippines following his arrest last week by the Malaysian authorities.

Presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said there are some matters that should not be disclosed to media regarding the deportation of the investment scam suspect.

"Operationally, it's not good for us to be telegraphing what we are doing insofar as a particular operation is concerned. I suppose it is prudent for us to not disclose every step of an operation," Lacierda said.

The scheduled return of Amalilio to the country last Friday was reportedly cancelled due to early reports in the media that prompted supposed victims of the grand investment scam in Malaysia to stop his deportation.

The National Bureau of Investigation is verifying whether Amalilio have pending cases in Malaysia, which could further delay his return.

Lacierda said Malacanang and other agencies involved in the case should refrain from issuing statements to avoid a "misunderstanding" with Malaysia.

"It would be best for us not to comment on any ongoing operation as a matter of practice and as a matter of procedure," he said.

The Departments of Foreign Affairs, Justice and Interior and Local Government are the lead agencies dealing with Malaysian government on the deportation of Amalilio.

Amalilio is facing large-scale and syndicated estafa charges for duping some 15,000 people in the Visayas and Mindanao of supposed investments of around P12 billion. (Jill Beltran/Sunnex)