Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla said Thursday he is ''confident'' two of the four Japanese robbery suspects could be deported ''very soon.''

''We are confident that we can send already two,'' he said in an ambush interview Thursday afternoon. He did not name them.

''I cannot give a date now, but it will happen soon. Very soon. I will inform you,'' he added.

Remulla said that on Friday ''some hearings will be just be formal hearings to dismiss the cases.'' He did not reveal where the hearings will be done.

''We want the cases to attain finality before we deport them in accordance with the rules of law,'' he added.

Remulla added that on Feb. 7, the Department of Justice expect...''the courts to decide on some of the issues.''

Remulla said he could not give a date for the deportation of the two suspects.

Today, hearings on criminal cases filed against Yuki Watanabe and Tomonobu Kojima were heard at the Pasay Regional Trial Court.

One of the four Japanese could be a person known as''Lully'' who reportedly masterminded robberies in Japan using his mobile phone while he was in the Bureau of Immigration facility.

In an ambush interview after the hearing, Eljun Rico, lawyer for the two accused, said: “There is a scheduled hearing on the 7th of February for the continuation of the prosecution’s evidence.”

Rico said the proceeding of the hearing shows that the motion to dismiss the case was “impliedly denied” by Presiding Judge Christian Castaneda.

The two Japanese are charged with Violence against Women and Children.

Rico said it was the ex-wife of Watanabe who filed a case against him after the presentation of copies of their marriage certificate.

He added that VAWC cases were not invented to prolong the stay of the suspects in the country.

“That would belittle the prosecuting arm because my clients were, in fact, indicted. If that would be the findings, then it would work in our favor because we are in the defense side,” Rico said. DMS/Jaspearl Tan