The many times the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty aided PHL

Until Justice Secretary Leila de Lima pointed to it as what could have spared death row inmate Mary Jane Veloso from execution in Indonesia, an 11-year-old mutual legal assistance agreement among ASEAN members has pretty much gone under the public’s radar.

 

Unknown to many, however, the Philippine government has, in recent years, actually been treating the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty as a very reliable ally in pursuing transnational cases in the region, especially those involving high-profile individuals.

And for countries with which the Philippines has no extradition treaty, like Malaysia, an MLAT is virtually the next best thing.

 

As early as 2002, Malaysia had pushed for the creation of a multi-lateral mutual legal assistance deal on criminal matters for “like-minded” countries in the ASEAN region.

 

Two years later, after a series of meetings in Sabah and Kuala Lumpur, the MLAT was adopted and signed on Nov. 29, 2004 by eight ASEAN member countries, including the Philippines. It would take a little over a year, in January 2006, for Thailand and Myanmar to join the treaty.

 

According to Article 1 of the 2004 Treaty on Mutual Legal Assistance on Criminal Matters, mutual assistance to be rendered among member countries may include:

 

(a) taking of evidence or obtaining voluntary statements from persons;

 

(b) making arrangements for persons to give evidence or to assist in criminal matters;

 

(c) effecting service of judicial documents;

 

(d) executing searches and seizures;

 

(e) examining objects and sites;

 

(f) providing original or certified copies of relevant documents, records and items of evidence;

 

(g) identifying or tracing property derived from the commission of an offense and instrumentalities of crime;

(h) the restraining of dealings in property or the freezing of property derived from the commission of an offence that may be recovered, forfeited or confiscated;

 

(i) the recovery, forfeiture or confiscation of property derived from the commission of an offense;

 

(j) locating and identifying witnesses and suspects; and

 

(k) the provision of such other assistance as may be agreed and which is consistent with the objects of this Treaty and the laws of the Requested Party.

 

Amman Futures

 

In November 2012, the Philippines considered invoking the treaty after confirming that Manuel Amalilio, the founder of the ill-fated Amman Futures Group that duped 15,000 people into investing P12 billion in an investment scheme that eventually crumbled, had fled to Kota Kinabalu in Malaysia. 

 

The promise of huge returns within weeks is said to have lured investors in Lanao del Sur and Zamboanga in Mindanao, and in Cebu in the Visayas, to go for the scam. 

 

Authorities said that representatives of Aman Futures encouraged victims to invest for 30 to 40-percent returns in eight days, and 50 to 80-percent in 18 to 20 days. 

 

At first, the investors received the promised cash, but the company later started issuing 50-day post-dated checks that bounced for lack of funds, according to the Justice Department.

 

After much coordination between the two countries, the Philippine government managed to convince Malaysia in January 2013 to allow Amalilio to return to Manila to face a syndictad estafa probe. At the 11th, however, Malaysia changed its mind and disallowed the businessman’s departure, saying he still first had to face separate case for using fake passport and IDs. 

 

He eventually was convicted and served two years in Malaysian prison. After completing his sentence, the Philippine government once against worked out his extradition through the MLAT, but Malaysia ultimately withdrew its extradition consent. 

Just the same, the DOJ pushed through with recommending the filing of a string of syndicated estafa cases against Amalilio and other individuals involved in int he multi-billion investment scam. 

 

Balintang shooting

 

For the May 2013 Balintang Channel shooting of a Taiwanese fisherman north of Luzon, the MLAT also served as a useful tool that enabled Philippine investigators to travel to Taiwan and gain access to evidence. 

 

The 65-year-old Taiwanese fisherman was killed when Coast Guard personnel fired at his boat, claiming that it attempted to ram a Monitoring, Control and Surveillance (MCS-3001) vessel belonging to the Department of Agriculture's Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources. 

 

The Department of Justice ended up filing homicide against eight Coast Guard officials and personnel. 

 

The case was initially heard by a Batanes court, until it was recently transferred to Mania. 

 

PCSO scam, Kiram

 

The DOJ also had to check if the Philippines has existing MLAT in countries where a co-accused of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in the P300-million Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office plunder case might have gone in hiding.

 

This was after the former PCSO official, Jose Taruc V, had signified his intention to yield. 

 

While the Philippine government sees the MLAT as an effective tool in stamp out transnational crime, people like the late Sulu Sultan Jamalul Kiram III feared it.

 

Kiram claimed sources "within the government” told him about plans to turn in the Kirams to the Malaysian government, in connection with the incursion made by a number of his followers in Sabah, Malaysia in February 2013.

 

A Philippine claim for sovereignty over Sabah has been dormant for decades, but Malaysia continues to pay a minimal yearly rent to the heirs of the Sultan of Sulu, who claim to be the descendants of the original Filipino sultan who had control over the territory for centuries.

 

PHL-US MLAT

 

Apart from in the ASEAN region, an MLAT also proved useful to Philippines-US relations.

 

In 2012, the Justice Department started helping the US government in its investigation of Ang Galing Pinoy party-list Rep. Juan Miguel "Mikey" Arroyo and his wife Ma. Angela for alleged money laundering. 

 

The DOJ started looking into the matter after the US government sought assistance from the DOJ, the latter being the central authority under the Philippine-US MLAT. 

 

And now, the MLAT has once again been proven to be useful in giving reprieve - albeit temporary - to the the 30-year-old Veloso, who was convicted in 2010 for sneaking 2.6 kilos of heroin into Indonesian soil from Malaysia.

 

Through the MLAT, De Lima earlier said Philippine investigators would be given access to documents and evidence that can be gathered from Indonesia to help in the case buildup against her alleged illegal recruiters.

 

“[At] Puwede rin magpatulong sa Malaysia para ang ating mga imbetsigador, mayroon silang ma-trace at ma-access doon na evidence in support of Mary Jane," she added. — RSJ, GMA News