PNP rescues 29 trafficked Pogo workers in Parañaque
INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines — At least 29 workers of a Philippine offshore gaming operator (Pogo) who are victims of human trafficking have been rescued in Parañaque City, the Philippine National Police (PNP) said on Friday.
According to a post from PNP’s social media pages, the group consisted of 23 Myanmar and six Chinese nationals. They were rescued at a village in Tambo, Parañaque.
PNP said they are now coordinating with concerned government agencies to identify the rescued individuals.
PNP chief Gen. Rodolfo Azurin Jr. said different units hatched the operation and lauded the police personnel who successfully rescued the individuals.
“Tulong-tulong tayo sa pagsugpo ng mga human trafficking sa bansa. (Let’s help one another to combat human trafficking in the country.) This successful operation can be attributed to the hardworking men and women of the LFU- WCPC together with personnel from RIU-NCR, IG, Parañaque City Police Station, SPD-NCRPO with representatives of CSWDO Parañaque City and IACAT-DOJ,” Azurin said.
“Together, they conducted a strong intelligence gathering following a complaint regarding the forced labor incident preying on the Pogo workers,” he added.
PNP’s operation comes in the heat of talks on whether the country should allow Pogos to continue operating in the country, amid the sector being linked to criminal activities.
There are fresh calls from lawmakers to kick Pogos out of the country, due to the social costs of the business. This was after Interior Secretary Benjamin Abalos Jr. said that authorities managed to arrest a human resource officer of a Pogo firm in a raid in Angeles City, Pampanga.
Abalos said that the operation was initiated after foreign police counterparts provided information to the local police — including complaints from the family of a kidnapped Chinese national whose abductors were asking for a P1 million ransom.
Eventually, it was discovered that the foreign nationals declared themselves tourists when entering the country.
But economist and Albay 2nd District Rep. Joey Salceda warned against removing POGOs in the country, noting that it would pose a humanitarian concern aside from letting these businesses operate underground.
According to Salceda, the better approach regarding the POGO issue is regulating and taxing them properly — adding that the industry is already experiencing one of the most brutal tax laws in the world.
He also claimed that law enforcers should just go after criminals as there will always be rotten eggs in an organization or a sector — which should not be a basis for its abolition.
