Bureau of Immigration lauded for deporting French fugitives

MANILA, Philippines - The French government lauded the Interpol unit of the Bureau of Immigration (BI) for its immediate arrest and deportation of a French couple who illegally took custody of their children.

In a letter to Immigration Commissioner Marcelino Libanan, French Consul Arnaut Rayar congratulated Libanan and his men for their “remarkable efficiency” in handling the deportation of Jerome Gilles Maclos and his common-law wife, Julie Barazutti, who were arrested in Cebu City last June 19.

Joint operatives of the BI-Interpol unit, Cebu immigration office and Philippine National Police arrested the couple on the strength of a mission order that Libanan issued at the request of Ambassador Borja de Mozota. The two were deported last June 30.

BI-Interpol unit head Floro Balato Jr. said the French government sought the couple’s arrest for kidnapping and illegally taking custody of a child named Elea Casaled-Barazutti.

Elea is allegedly a daughter of Barazutti with her first husband and the High Court of Noumea in France stripped Barazutti of her parental custody rights over the child.

Balato said a warrant for the couple’s arrest was issued by the High Court of Mulhouse in France last April 17 as a result of the kidnapping case.

Aside from the ordering the couple’s deportation, the BI board of commissioners also revoked the working visas issued to them while they were staying in the Philippines. – Helen Flores