Hike in crimes involving Chinese alarms PRC officials

MANILA, Philippines — Bothered by the “alarming level” of Chinese citizens entering the Philippines and the involvement of some of them in illegal activities, including prostitution and kidnapping, Chinese officials met last week with representatives of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).

The two groups discussed the possibility of “close coordination and cooperation” to track down members of the Chinese Mafia who were behind several incidents of kidnapping and extortion related to illegal gambling.

NBI spokesperson Ferdinand Lavin told reporters on Tuesday that they met with officials from the People’s Republic of China (PRC), some from the justice department and the Chinese Embassy, on Dec. 12.

“They [Chinese officials] are so willing to assist Philippine authorities. We may be sharing information on who are members of the syndicate who are here [and] the different modus operandi they have in China that are being brought here by syndicates,” Lavin said.

NBI Anti-Organized and Transnational Crimes Division (AOTCD) chief Joel Tovera said that a “big syndicate” might be behind the prostitution den in Las Piñas City that was raided last week.

A total of 15 Chinese nationals were arrested and charged with qualified trafficking, a nonbailable offense, in connection with the discovery of two sex dens in Metro Manila.

One of these was located in a three-story building on Crispina Avenue in Las Pinas City which NBI agents raided on Dec. 14.

Arrested were 12 Chinese who had been running the sex den for over a year in addition to three Chinese women believed to be acting as pimps. Five other Chinese women who were sex workers were rescued.

According to the information gathered by AOTCD, the establishment catered only to Chinese men who were charged P18,000 per hour.

Bookings were done on a smartphone app.

On Dec. 11, AOTCD operatives also rescued 12 Chinese women believed to be sex workers from a hotel on Alabang-Zapote Road.

Three men, also Chinese, were arrested for running the sex den which took up one entire floor in the six-story hotel. They charged customers P6,000 per hour.

The rescued sex workers, on the other hand, were released.

“[They] were recruited from China. They were [told] they would work in a mall in he Philippines. One of the reported requirements was that the applicant must have a pleasing personality. But when they arrived here, they found out that they [would go into] prostitution,” said Tovera.