Philippine Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla has announced that legal obstacles have been cleared for the handover of two of four Japanese men suspected of involvement in a series of robberies in Japan.

Remulla met reporters on Friday after a court in the city of Bacolod dismissed all charges against Fujita Toshiya in physical assault cases. Another suspect, Imamura Kiyoto, also had his charges dismissed last month.

Japanese police have obtained arrest warrants for Fujita, Imamura and two others in separate fraud cases and requested their handover.

Police believe that one or more of the men issued instructions to the perpetrators of the robberies from an immigration detention facility near Manila.

Philippines authorities cannot deport the men unless the criminal charges are dismissed.

The justice secretary had suggested that he suspects these legal cases had been fabricated so that the four men would not be sent back to Japan to face charges.