Alleged British gem smuggler allowed to post bail

Saying it was left with no choice, the Philippines government has allowed the British businesswoman accused of smuggling $10.4 million worth of diamonds into the Philippines to post bail for her temporary liberty. The Bureau if Immigration (BI) reported on Friday that Siu Ting Alpha Kwok, 43, was turned over to the Israeli Embassy and Jewish Association of the Philippines (JAP) chief Rabbi Eliyahu Azaria based on “humanitarian reasons." BI’s law and investigation division chief Bienvenido Chy said the agency received a letter from the Israeli Embassy on Sept. 30, explaining that Kwok’s husband is an Israeli national. "We had no choice but to release her," Chy said, adding that Kwok’s legal counsel, lawyer Bonifacio Alentajan, filed a petition for bail amounting to P150,000. Chy clarified that the foreigner was released based on conditions that she would not leave the country. She was also asked to surrender her passport and was placed under the “hold departure order" (HDO). Moreover, Kwok would have to inform Azaria every two weeks to update him on her whereabouts. Last August, Kwok, a Chinese-born British national from Hong Kong, was charged with smuggling after elements of the Presidential Anti-Smuggling Group (PASG) seized from her 160 carats of diamonds along with uncut emeralds and other precious stones. [See: RP seizes $10.4-million smuggled diamonds] Kwok has denied the accusations and countered the allegations by slapping eight officials of PASG, including its chief Undersecretary Antonio Villar Jr., with graft and illegal arrest. [See: PASG chief, 7 others charged with graft, illegal arrest] - GMANews.TV