MANILA, Philippines — The bodies of nine foreigners were recently discovered in different parts of Pampanga, the provincial police said on Friday.
“Yung siyam na natagpuan po dito, ang anim po dito ay Chinese, one Vietnamese, one Malaysian, and one Japanese,” Pampanga Police Office Director Col. Jay Dimaandal said over radio dwPM.
(Six of the victims were Chinese, one Vietnamese, one Malaysian and one Japanese.)
Three of the dead Chinese nationals were found in Porac town.
A raid was conducted in a Philippine offshore gaming operator (Pogo) complex in Porac last month, where 186 individuals were rescued amid reports it was being used for human trafficking, with some of the foreign employees allegedly tortured or sold for sex.
But Dimaandal said it could not be determined if the deaths of three Chinese victims were Pogo-related.
“Actually, hindi po natin masabi dahil tulad po nitong tatlong Chinese victim, based sa backtracking sa CCTV nanggaling po sila sa Metro Manila ang sasakyan, at dito nagbarilan at dito natagpuan ang tatlong bangkay,” Dimaandal said.
(Actually, we could not yet say because, like the three Chinese victims, based on the backtracking of CCTV footage, their vehicle came from Metro Manila, a firefight happened here, and their bodies were also found here.)
Aside from this incident, the bodies of kidnapped Chinese nationals were recently found in other parts of the country.
Last month, the remains of two Chinese businessmen who were suspected to have been kidnapped were found in Camarines Sur.
In November 2023, four Chinese nationals who were kidnapped in Ayala Alabang Village in Muntinlupa City were also found dead in Rizal and Quezon.