MANILA, Philippines — Gen. Oscar Albayalde, Philippine National Police (PNP) chief, expressed concern on Tuesday on recent incidents of kidnapping involving Chinese nationals targeting their countrymen who owed them money usually used for gambling.
“Those incidents involving the Chinese is not that alarming, although we are concerned,” Albayalde, speaking partly in Filipino, told reporters in an interview in Camp Crame in Quezon City.
Albayalde aired this concern as police officers from the PNP Anti-Kidnapping Group (AKG) were set to be sent to China to study Mandarin so they could help deal with Chinese victims or suspects of kidnapping.
READ: PH cops to be sent to China to study Mandarin
According to police records, 56 kidnapping cases were reported from January 2017 to August 2019. At least 120 Chinese suspects were arrested in the same period.
The Chinese Consulate will fund the language training of the police officers.
Albayalde said that the language barrier between investigators and Chinese nationals involved in crimes impedes follow-up operations by the police.
“You will have to find an interpreter, which is sometimes hard to do,” he said. “So it’s good if our operative will be able to understand Mandarin so that it will be easier to conduct an immediate follow-up operation.”
He added that Chinese kidnapping victims would also be more “relaxed” if police officers could talk to them in their language.
/atm