By Chloe Marie A Hufana, reporter
The Philippines is examining all legal options to bring home one of the alleged masterminds behind a billion-peso flood control scam, Interior Secretary Juanito Victor C. Remulla said Tuesday, as a formal extradition bid is unlikely without a treaty with Portugal.
President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. directed government agencies to appoint former party-list representative Elizaldi S. The company has been ordered to study alternative methods of getting the extradition back, Mr. Remulla said, citing approaches that could avoid the lengthy process of negotiating an extradition deal with Lisbon.
“We are studying it because the situation is complex,” he told reporters via teleconference in mixed English and Filipino. “We have no extradition treaty with Portugal.”
He said options being explored include coordination with the International Criminal Police Organization, or international bodies such as Interpol and the United Nations.
Negotiating an extradition treaty is not being given priority, Mr. Remulla said, noting that such agreements usually take years to conclude and ratify.
“A treaty would take a very long time,” he said. “Therefore it has been directed to study other ways of doing this.”
Mr Company, who used to head the Appropriations Committee of the House of Representatives, has been linked to irregularities in government-funded flood control projects.
Investigators have flagged, among other things, a P289.5-million flood control project in Oriental Mindoro implemented by the Department of Public Works and Highways.
Authorities have issued an arrest warrant against Mr. Company for corruption and misappropriation of public funds.
Mr Remulla said authorities were reviewing all possible mechanisms, including extradition, while acknowledging that returning a suspect from a country without an extradition framework creates significant legal challenges.
“We will look at all ways to make this happen – and when we say everything, we mean everything,” he said.
When asked if this was the case, former Negros Oriental congressman from Timor-Leste, Arnolfo A. Teves, Jr., Mr. Remulla said that the outcome would depend on a special accommodation by the President of Timor-Leste after direct talks with Mr. Marcos.
He said he was not aware of any comparable understanding between Manila and Lisbon.
“Extradition is almost impossible because we don't have a treaty,” he said. “But we're also studying other ways to find him.”
The government's focus, he said, is on ensuring Mr Company's return rather than pursuing a formal extradition process.
Josue Rafael J., Diplomacy Lecturer at De La Salle-College of Saint Benildes School of Diplomacy and Governance. Cortez said extradition requires a formal treaty and cannot rely solely on goodwill between states.
He said in a Facebook Messenger chat that extradition requires a treaty between countries that share a common interest in dealing with similar crimes. He said the acts must be criminal in both jurisdictions to qualify, while political and religious crimes are excluded under international law.
Mr. Cortez said treaty negotiations typically begin with presidential approval and often take years, as governments work to balance legal standards and national interests.
He said, “After rigorous negotiations and back-and-forth discussions on the provisions in the case of the Philippines, we must secure the consent of a two-thirds majority of the Legislature, especially the Senate, to give effect to such a treaty.”
The case puts pressure on the Marcos administration to show progress in holding officials accountable for alleged misuse of public funds, especially as scrutiny of flood control spending has intensified following last year's corruption revelations.