Manila puts Amalilio extradition on hold as Sabah conflict rages

KUALA LUMPUR, March 13 – Manila was forced to abort its mission to repatriate accused Filipino confidence trickster Manuel Amalilio due to prolonged conflict in Sabah’s restive east coast, The Philippine Star reported today.

Government officials have postponed indefinitely their meeting with Malaysian authorities to return Amalilio, who had skipped out on his trial in the Philippines for cheating thousands of his countrymen out of a 12 billion pesos in an investment scam, secretary in the Philippine Justice Department, Leila de Lima, was cited saying.

“I decided to defer it (mission to get Amalilio) indefinitely. This is one of the results of Kiram group’s incursion and activities,” she was quoted telling reporters in Manila.

Violent clashes between a 200-strong Sulu militant group – led by a Filipino Muslim clan staking a 17th century claim on Sabah – and Malaysia’s security forces erupted last month and have killed at least 66 people on both sides, including one teenager, and injured scores others.

De Lima said she made the decision after consulting the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs.

The Philippine mission, led by its Justice Undersecretary Jose Vicente Salazar, was set to leave yesterday to formally negotiate with Malaysian officials to take Amalilio back to the republic, as well as request a freeze of the accused’s assets.

The wanted man, who is related to Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman, is reportedly serving a two-year jail sentence here for a forged Filipino passport.

Philippine Interior Secretary Mar Roxas had allegedly said Musa had tried to interfere in Amalilio’s repatriation, the newspaper had previously reported.

Amalilio has been reported to be facing prosecution in the Philippines for duping more than 15,000 people of P12 billion (about RM919.4 millon) in a get-rich-quick scheme last year.

He was reported to have fled south to neighbouring Sabah, Malaysia’s easternmost state after Filipino president Benigno Aquino III had ordered his arrest last November.

Amalilio was picked up by a branch of the International Criminal Police Organisation (Interpol) in Sabah in late January, which promptly informed Manila of the capture.

Filipino police were reported to have left empty handed when Sabah police took Amalilio into their custody at the airport minutes before the flight to Manila.

Malaysia has no extradition treaty with the Philippines.