Palace vows justice for investment scam victims

MALACANANG assured Wednesday that justice will be served to the victims of the Aman Futures investment scam despite the conviction of the group's leader, Manuel Amalilio, in Malaysia.

Amalilio was tagged as the brains behind a P12-billion pyramiding scam that duped thousands of investors in Visayas and Mindanao. He was sentenced to two years in prison in Malaysia for using fake passports.

Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said although the Malaysian court already sentenced Amalilio, the government will do everything to serve justice to his victims and bring him back to the country.

"Hindi naman sinasabing hindi na sila mabibigyan ng hustisya. Ipagpapatuloy pa rin natin ang ating mga ginagawa para maibalik si Amalilio sa Pilipinas. At katulad ng sinabi ni Secretary (Leila) de Lima, we will continue our efforts to make sure that there is a fitting end to this story," Valte said.

Asked if the latest development in Malaysia is acceptable to the Philippine government, Valte said it is not about being acceptable or not but it is about respecting the legal process of another country.

"At this point, we do not wish to question their (Malaysia) legal process also. We have very high regard for the legal process of any country—not just of Malaysia but all of the countries that we have relations with," she said.

She admitted that Amalilio's conviction in Malaysia may delay the justice department's quest for justice but she said that it will not deter the government's efforts to bring Amalilio back to the Philippines.

De Lima has been working to send Amalilio back to the country as soon as possible to face multi-million peso syndicated estafa cases filed against him.

On January 25, a high official in Sabah allegedly blocked Amalilio's deportation to the Philippines.

According to some reports, the Malaysian government is willing to turn over Amalilio to Philippine authorities provided that proper procedures under Asean's Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters Act 2002 are complied with. (Jill Beltran/Sunnex)