Philippine police claim Pogo crackdown is working, but admit kidnappings will never stop
Efforts by police in the Philippines to crack down on crime in the online gambling industry appear to have yielded results, but a senator's revelation of a new alleged abduction suggests there may be policing blind spots.
Earlier this month, Police Brigadier General Jonnel Estomo, who oversees police operations in Metro Manila, said there were no reports of kidnappings in the past two months, even though "I expect kidnappings to continue happening for as long as there are Pogos [Philippine offshore gaming operators]".
On December 13, the Philippine police force released crime statistics showing that from January 1 to November 13 this year, there was a 2.66 per cent drop in so-called index crimes such as murder, rape, serious assault, car theft and robbery.
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Estomo said kidnappings, which used to be rampant in the nation's capital region, had declined "because I made many interventions".
"I required all [27] Pogos to register all their employees in all police stations. In short, we know all the names of their employees," Estomo said.
"I also talked to all the Pogo owners and told them to stop all those kidnappings ... I increased police visibility in crime-prone areas and asked force multipliers like the village chiefs, village guards and private security guards [in commercial establishments] for help."
However, a day later Philippine Senator Grace Poe "raised the alarm" over another abduction case related to Pogos.
She said she was told that a friend's sister-in-law had been abducted in broad daylight on December 12, while meeting a potential employer in a busy part of Metro Manila close to the Philippine Senate.
"Before the abduction, the victim was allegedly offered a job [in a Pogo] as a personal assistant for a minimum of 100,000 pesos [US$1,810] a month," Poe said.
But when the woman went to the venue near the Senate building to meet the would-be employer, "she was forced to ride a Red Mitsubishi Xpander with the conductor sticker of YOU537", Poe said.
Poe showed photos of the victim's injuries, which she said were sustained trying to escape. The woman was taken to the nearby province of Cavite where "Chinese-looking individuals" tried to buy her for 320,000 pesos (US$5,800) from her original abductors, Poe said.
"The victim pleaded with the buyers to buy her, then release her upon her family's payment of ransom. The buyer felt pity for her ... and brought her to a Pogo dormitory inside Shuangma Industrial Park in Cavite," Poe said. "Her brother-in-law paid off her buyers for 250,000 pesos and she was released."
According to the abductee, there were other victims inside Shuangma, Poe said. The senator's staff investigated the dormitory at the industrial estate and found it was operated by a government-licensed Pogo service provider named Brickhartz Technology.
The senator said police had already raided the dorm twice and urged the government to "rein in the risk to peace and order and possible long-term damage to the rule of law" caused by Pogo-related crimes.
"This sector has turned one vice - gambling - into a host of other more serious problems like kidnappings, serious physical injuries and human trafficking. If we don't act now, more victims will follow," Poe said. "The victim's family is willing to coordinate with the authorities on this."
Police general Estomo said his command, which covers Metro Manila, had no jurisdiction on the case since the victim ended up in neighbouring Cavite province.
He also said his operations had not come across local victims responding to "help wanted" ads.
In a separate interview on Tuesday, Police Brigadier General Rodolfo "Jun" Castil told This Week in Asia that the national police anti-kidnapping group that he heads had "an ongoing investigation" on the abduction disclosed by Poe.
Castil said he sent a team to follow up on the kidnapping, but the senator's office withheld the name of the victim without getting her consent first.
As of Monday, Castil said the senator's office had yet to call back, adding that the police were also conducting their own investigation and had talked to potential witnesses. He declined to disclose any initial results.
Castil said his experience in investigating abductions showed there were real cases of kidnappings, but there were also instances where "some Chinese nationals who borrow money to fund their vices and cannot pay back tell their relatives back home they've been kidnapped".
The relatives get in touch with the Philippine authorities to "rescue" the alleged victims, who are then able to avoid paying what they owed, Castil said.
This article originally appeared on the South China Morning Post (SCMP).
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