The British government has conveyed its interest in negotiating for a Transfer of Sentence Persons Agreement with the Philippines that would allow the extradition of Filipinos imprisoned in the United Kingdom and for them to serve the remaining years of their sentence in the Philippines, an official of the Department of Justice said on Tuesday.
Justice Undersecretary Markk Perete said on Tuesday that he met with British Consul Martin O’Neill on Monday and discussed the possibility of having a TSPA between the two countries.
“We met the British Consul yesterday and he intimated their desire to enter into a TSPA with us. Once the request is formalized through the Department of Foreign Affairs [DFA], the UK and [the] Philippines will exchange drafts as a prerequisite to negotiations,” Perete said, in an interview.
Perete said that there may be less than 10 Filipinos detained in the UK, but said he has yet to verify the figure with the DFA.
“Per the Consul, as of now, there are less than 10 Filipinos imprisoned but we are confirming this with the DFA,” he said.
“We likewise want projections from the DFA of the number of Philippine nationals in the UK for us to determine the prioritization to be accorded to the UK request to negotiate,” he added.
However, Perete explained that DOJ would give priority importance to its other states seeking to enter into similar TSPA with the Philippines where there are large concentration of overseas Filipino workers.
Aside from UK, the DOJ official said they are negotiating with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia where as of December last year, there were 91 Filipinos detained for reportedly committed various offenses and 1,002 Filipinos facing investigation for criminal cases in the said Middle East country.
Out of the 91 detained Filipinos, one is serving an 11-20 years imprisonment; six are serving 5-10 years imprisonment; and 84 are serving less than 5 years imprisonment.
Many of the crimes reportedly committed by the 91 Filipinos range from unpaid loans, theft, robbery, sexual abuses, rape, and crimes relating to drugs.