The American government is "prepared to wait however long it takes" for the Philippines to extradite fugitive businessman Mark Jimenez, who is wanted in the United States for several federal crimes.
US Embassy spokesman Thomas Skipper said his government does not want to interfere in legal proceedings where Jimenez is expected to testify against disgraced former President Joseph Estrada.
"(Jimenez’s) involvement in any domestic legal proceeding is a matter entirely for the government of the Philippines," Skipper stressed, adding that Washington is "prepared to wait however long it takes."
US authorities in Manila also assured the Philippine government that the reported presence of US marshals, supposedly in the country to arrest Jimenez, is mere speculation.
"They said there is no truth to that, it’s just media speculation," a senior official of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said.
Acting Foreign Affairs Secretary Lauro Baja laughed off reports that agents would abduct Jimenez similar to the way former Panamanian strongman Manuel Antonio Noriega was brought to the US to answer drug trafficking charges two decades ago.
"We are a sovereign state. They can’t do a Noriega here," Baja said.
The US government last year asked the Philippines to extradite Jimenez after he fled the US in 1999 following his indictment in Florida.
He was indicted for alleged tax evasion, mail fraud and illegal campaign contributions to the US Democratic Party.
But Jimenez successfully used local courts to fight off his extradition even as he allegedly helped Estrada enrich himself through illegal transactions with some of the country’s biggest corporations.
Upon its succession, the Arroyo administration prepared to charge the fugitive with economic plunder, a capital crime, but Jimenez bought himself more time after he agreed on Friday to testify against his friend.
Jimenez, former Estrada adviser on Latin American affairs, is expected to testify that Estrada conspired to manipulate stock prices and collected kickbacks from big corporations.
But the preliminary investigation being conducted by the Ombudsman will reportedly take two months before the charges can be filed before the Sandiganbayan.
Baja said the US Embassy had requested that the Department of Justice issue a hold-departure order against Jimenez as early as October, when allegations of massive corruption first emerged against Estrada.
"The US fears that he can just leave the Philippines and go to other countries where the US has no extradition treaty," Baja told reporters.
Jimenez’s hold-departure order expired Monday but Baja said he had already asked Justice Secretary Hernando Perez to issue a new order.
Meanwhile, Sen. Franklin Drilon yesterday warned the DOJ to be wary of witnesses who volunteer information against Estrada because they might be "Trojan horses" meant to mislead the government.
"The DOJ must be careful in admitting witnesses," Drilon told Senate reporters in reaction to reports that several Estrada friends have agreed to testify against the disgraced leader.
Aside from Jimenez, other Estrada cronies who are allegedly willing to testify against Estrada are suspected gambling boss Charlie "Atong" Ang and businessman Jaime Dichaves.
Drilon, justice secretary of the Aquino administration, said the government must first determine if the information given to them would help in the prosecution of the cases or just mislead prosecutors.
Drilon recalled that when the DOJ, during his watch, prosecuted the rape and murder cases against Calauan, Laguna Mayor Antonio Sanchez of Laguna, several witnesses surfaced purportedly to help the government in its case.
But it turned out that these witnesses submitted information that were contrary to the case built up by government lawyers.  Perseus Echeminada