ANOTHER Chinese national was found to be a fugitive from among the nearly 1,200 foreigners rescued by police operatives from a Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (POGO) firm in Las Piñas City during a raid a few weeks ago.
This brings to eight the number of foreign fugitives rescued from the Xinchuang Network Technology Inc which PNP Anti-Cybercrime Group (ACG) searched on June 27.
The seven other foreign fugitives were composed of four Chinese and three Taiwanese, who are wanted in their country for various crimes, including fraud and drug trafficking.
In a statement, the ACG said the eight foreign fugitive is a 45-year-old Chinese who was “apprehended after confirming that he is a wanted fugitive.”
“Investigations revealed that the said individual holds a warrant of detention issued by the Public Security Bureau in China, relating to charges of illegal business,” the ACG said.
Police operatives raided the POGO firm based on warrants to search, seize, and examine computer data for violation of human trafficking and cybercrime laws.
Operatives rescued 2.724 victims of human trafficking from the establishment, of which 1,534 are Filipinos and 1,190 are foreigners, including 604 Chinese. The other foreign workers came from other countries in Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Africa.
Five Chinese nationals who were arrested during the raid have been charged for trafficking but they were released pending further investigation after undergoing inquest proceedings at the DOJ.
They were identified as Li Jiacheng, alias Li Jiachang, Xiao Liu, alias Xiao Lin, Yan Jiayong, alias Pan Wen Jie, Duan Haozhuan, and LP Hongkun, alias Li Yang.
The arrested foreigners are being housed inside the POGO hub, pending their turnover to the Bureau of Immigration (BI).
“The PNP ACG is committed to the thorough processing of the operations in the POGO hub to ensure that no stone is left unturned and all criminals responsible in its illegal operation are brought to justice,” said ACG director Brig. Gen. Sidney Hernia.
PNP spokeswoman Col. Jean Fajardo said it may take “a few more days” to complete the processing of the foreigners, noting that only a half of the nearly 1,200 foreigners have passports.
Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla said the BI has custody over the 11,90 foreigners but they will remain housed in the POGO hub temporarily due to lack of available facilities to hold them.
Remulla said the PNP have already agreed with the arrangement on the custody of the foreigners.
“We have agreed with the police that custody of these people, foreigners, shall be technically, legally under the Bureau of Immigration although they will be kept in the Las Piñas quarters in the POGO where they were raided because we do not have the facilities in the BI to keep them,” Remulla told reporters in a briefing when sought for an update on the case.
“That will clarify a lot of issues about the habeas corpus petitions being filed because they are being held for cause by the Bureau of Immigration,” he added.
He said there are 17 nationalities recorded among those caught in the Las Pinas raid.
He said, though, that they expect the number to go down as embassies have been working with the DOJ and BI to hasten up the deportation of their nationals.
“We expect this to ease up later on because the embassies have been coordinating with us about the deportation or repatriation of many of them, “ he said.
After the deportation, the names of the foreigners will be put in the immigration’s blacklist to prevent their re-entry to the country.
“One of the things we are asking the BI is also to blacklist them because they were found being involved in an illegal activity then we must blacklist them for violating the provisions of their stay in the country,” Remulla explained.
He said the foreigners are currently under legal custody because they are under investigation for violation of their visas or the condition of their visas.
“Violations of the conditions of the visa is enough for the Bureau of Immigration to hold them indefinitely under custody,” he said.
He said also said their activities in the country can already be considered unlawful, therefore a violation of their visas, as the licenses of the POGO operators have already been cancelled by the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation.
Meanwhile, Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian scored the BI for its failure to prevent the entry of foreign fugitives into the country.
“Paano nakakalusot ang mga puganteng ito papasok ng bansa na kinukuha pa ng mga lisensyadong kumpanya ng POGO? (How do these fugitives manage to sneak into the country and later end up working in licensed POGO companies?)” Gatchalian asked.
Gatchalian said POGOs “corrupt the system” that is the reason why a big number of foreign fugitives have been able to enter the country undetected.
“By allowing these fugitives to enter the country, some Bureau of Immigration personnel might have also been tainted by POGOS and the individuals involved should be properly investigated,” he said. — With Aszhel Hachero and Raymond Africa
