Palace insists Amalilio a Filipino citizen

MANILA, Philippines - Pyramiding scam suspect Manuel Amalilio is a Filipino, Malacañang said yesterday as it expressed confidence that the delay in his return was just a temporary setback.

Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda assured Amalilio’s supposed victims that the government is working to have him deported from Malaysia to face charges.

“We are confident that with the coordination of our Malaysian counterparts, we will be able to bring back Mr. Amalilio,” Lacierda said.

This developed as a new complaint involving over P100 million, said to be the biggest amount invested in the Aman Futures Group Inc., has been filed against Amalilio before the city prosecutor’s office in Cagayan de Oro City.

Fidel Macauyag, city prosecutor, said a group of investors from Marawi City he identified as Jalanie Rogong, Abdullatip Mustapha and Azis Mariano Dimasiding had invested P133 million in Aman last year.

He said the amount was higher compared to what was taken from Pagadian residents, which was P43 million.

The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), meanwhile, was verifying reports that Amalilio has pending cases in Malaysia, which might be the reason behind his stalled deportation.

Lacierda said the claims that Amalilio was a Malaysian citizen were baseless “because we made sure that when we were there, we would have all the documentary proofs that he is a Filipino citizen.”

“In fact, my understanding is that the officials of the NBI also brought along a certified true copy of the birth certificate of Mr. Amalilio. So that is not a problem. We were ready to present the proof of his birth in the Philippines and his citizenship as well. That was not an issue,” he said.

The Palace official said the Departments of Justice (DOJ), and of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) were coordinating with the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), which has been handling the case in Malaysia.

He said the government was in the process of getting Amalilio back to the Philippines, but refused to comment on reports regarding the purported ties of the Aman head to the Sabah chief minister, who allegedly prevented the deportation last Thursday.

“Certain matters have to be cleared up and that’s in the process of being done right now. So once those things are clarified, we will let you know, once we have Mr. Amalilio back in the Philippines,” Lacierda said. He said there might be no need for high-level negotiations at this time for Amalilio’s repatriation.

“I would have to ask the President about that. We have a very good working relationship with our Malaysian counterparts. So we don’t see that as a problem,” he said.

“We have a Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty with Malaysia. I don’t know if it’s a treaty. We have a mutual legal assistance mechanism with Malaysia,” he added. Macauyag said he has already endorsed the complaint to the DOJ in Manila last week, and it was received by senior assistant state prosecutor Edna Valenzuela, head of the DOJ panel tasked to look into the “double-your-money” scheme that has victimized at least 15,000 people in Mindanao.

Aside from Amalilio, named respondents in the new complaint for syndicated estafa were Aman Futures directors and officers Fernando Luna, Nimfa Luna, Lelian Lim Gan, Eduardo Lim, William Fuentez, Naezelle Rodriguez and Lurix Lopez. The same complaint was also filed against the 11 Aman Futures agents and facilitators.

NBI Director Nonnatus Caesar Rojas said there is still no official confirmation why Amalilio was prevented from leaving Malaysia. He said they needed to validate information that he is also facing complaints there.

Rojas said it is now up to the DOJ, DFA, and DILG to take the next step.

“We are hoping this would be just a temporary setback. The NBI is ready to bring Mr. Amalilio back to the Philippines,” he said. – Jigger Jerusalem, Sandy Araneta