Ben Madilynn
THE 169 foreigners who were charged for being undocumented and working in the country without a visa were already transported Wednesday, Sept. 4, to Metro Manila where they will face the charges and deportation proceedings.
The foreign nationals were picked up following the raid on the Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (Pogo) hub in Barangay Agus, Lapu-Lapu City last Aug. 31.
National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) 7 Director Rennan Augustus Oliva during a press conference on Tuesday, September 3, emphasized that these individuals will have to face the cases filed against them before leaving the country.
“Those who are charged have to face the cases filed against them before they can be deported. That’s the rule,” said Oliva.
He added those who were charged should remain in the country to face the charges against them.
The Chinese, Burmese, Indonesian, Malaysian, and Taiwanese nationals were turned over by the Bureau of Immigration (BI) to be detained at the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (Paocc) office in Pasay, City.
Amai Matugas, head of the regional intelligence operations unit of BI 7, reported that the arrested foreign nationals included 69 Indonesians, 19 Chinese, six from Myanmar, one from Malaysia, and two from Taiwan.
In coordination with Paocc and the Philippine Air Force, the foreigners were transported through a C-130 turboprop military aircraft Wednesday afternoon.
Meanwhile, Dominador Cimafranca, Associate Regional Director of NBI 7, said that they will start the documentation of the search warrant to examine the devices and gadgets discovered during the operation.
“We will be starting the documentation of the search warrant to examine those devices that have been discovered in the conduct of the rescue…to be seized were computer monitors, laptops, cell phones that were used in their scam,” said Cimafranca.
He added that scripts utilized to scam victims from China, Malaysia, Indonesia, and other countries will also be examined.
“We will conduct a forensic examination on those devices. The examination will prove that there was really a Pogo operation here,” he said.
According to Oliva, Paocc spokesman Wilson Casio confirmed that there were Pogo-like activities in the hotel since different forms of scams, like love and investment scams, were evident based on the initial evaluation of the evidence.
Operation on the Pogo hub in Barangay Agus stemmed following the illegal detention complaint of three Indonesian nationals who were able to escape the site.
Arnel Pura, supervising agent of the NBI Cebu district office, said that on July 24, 2024, the Mandaue City Prosecutor’s Office endorsed to their office the case of the three Indonesian nationals who were victims of illegal detention from the hub allegedly perpetuated by the Chinese national and his girlfriend.
“The evaluation of the City Prosecutor’s Office is that these three Indonesian nationals were possible victims of trafficking. Guided by that statement, we conducted a further investigation in the office and indeed we were able to establish that they were victims of trafficking. They also disclosed that there are 40 more Indonesian nationals held against their will and were possibly stationed in different sites, one in Lapu-Lapu City and one in Mandaue City,” he said.
