A HOTEL located in Barangay Agus in Lapu-Lapu City was raided by a joint force of the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC), National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking and Bureau of Immigration (BI) on Saturday, Aug. 31, 2024.
The operatives entered a floor at the Tourist Garden Hotel where they found over 100 people, most of them Chinese nationals, Indonesians and some from Myanmar, operating what was claimed to be a scam.
According to Renan Oliva, NBI 7 director, the rescued Chinese nationals are still undergoing profiling.
He said they found computers inside the hotel, believed to be used for various types of internet-based illegal activities.
Oliva explained that the Lapu-Lapu City Prosecutor’s Office had first conducted an inquest on a case of slight illegal detention where three Indonesians escaped and filed a complaint on July 21. Because of this, the Indonesian embassy requested a rescue operation for their citizens. The investigation revealed that not just three were victims after the three Indonesians disclosed that there were 40 to 60 of them, along with other nationalities. This led NBI 7 and other government agencies to conduct surveillance to verify the information.
After confirming that there were indeed violations of Philippine immigration laws, NBI 7 coordinated with PAOCC, DSWD and the BI for a rescue operation. However, they were shocked upon entering the hotel to find numerous computers operating love scams run by Chinese nationals, Indonesians and Myanmar nationals.
“Initially, the first violation was of immigration laws, but we discovered that they seem to be involved in scams, so we are processing each identity of the foreigners, including those who are rescued,” Oliva said.
Apart from foreigners, some Filipino women were also rescued, including a minor who was turned over to DSWD 7 for processing and profiling. Oliva added that those who operated Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (Pogos) in Luzon that were raided by law enforcement but were not charged had moved to Cebu to continue their scam operations. They occupied three buildings, with bars and restaurants on the lower floors so that those working in the scam hub wouldn’t need to go out.
At the time of writing this report, NBI and PAOCC members were still conducting a search of the building. Meanwhile, documents of the foreigners, such as passports, were being collected to determine if there were any illegal entrants to the Philippines.
Winston Casio, PAOCC spokesman, revealed that after receiving all the information at the capital regarding the complaint from the Indonesian government, they immediately made plans for a rescue operation in coordination with the Department of Justice.
“We are here to rescue the Indonesian nationals, but when we arrived, we caught them in flagrante delicto. We saw that there were scam farms here. We found three scam farms run by Chinese, Indonesians and Myanmar nationals,” Casio said.
He explained that the operation they discovered was a Pogo.
Besides Lapu-Lapu City, PAOCC has also monitored similar operations in other areas of Cebu Province, though they didn’t immediately disclose the specific locations.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. banned all offshore gaming operators earlier this year and issued an order to arrest those involved.
Meanwhile, Lapu-Lapu City Mayor Junard “Ahong” Chan told SunStar Cebu in a phone interview that he already communicated with the NBI 7 to clarify details on the raid.
“Ang nadawat nako na information ganiha [Aug. 31] that there were two Indonesian nationals na-rescue sa Mandaue City unya nag-ingon na duna pa sila’y 40 kabuok nga naa sa Lapu-Lapu,” said Chan.
(The information I received earlier today [Aug. 31] was that two Indonesian nationals were rescued in Mandaue City, and they mentioned that there are still 40 more in Lapu-Lapu.)
“Niadto sila sa Soong, Barangay Mactan they found out it’s negative. Karon naa sila sa Tourist Garden Hotel mao na akong pangutan-on ang NBI kung ang question if naa ba’y operation for Pogo or kato tong 40 Indonesians,” he added.
(They went to Soong, Barangay Mactan, but that turned out negative. Now, they’re at the Tourist Garden Hotel, so I will ask the NBI if there is a Pogo operation there or if their operation was about the 40 Indonesians.)
Chan said he is coordinating with the NBI for updates, adding that if it is confirmed that an illegal Pogo is operating in the city he will immediately shut down the establishment.
“If this is an illegal Pogo that they are really operating, we will close their establishment,” he said.
Measures
Chan said he already mandated the Lapu-Lapu City Police Office (LLCPO) to profile foreign nationals in every barangay to identify who are engaged in illegal activities.
“Well, I already had a marching order. We have profiling in every barangay kay wa man gud ta kahibaw kung are they operating Pogos or not so ang atoa mag profiling ta sa mga barangays labi na sa mga subdivisions kung kinsa naa diha,” said Chan.
(Well, I already had a marching order. We have profiling in every barangay because we don’t know if they are operating a Pogo or not. So our task is to profile the barangays, especially the subdivisions, to identify them.)
Lt. Col. Christian Torres, LLCPO spokesman, said via text message that they participated in the raid, but were only tasked to handle the perimeter security.
Torres said Casio was the only person authorized to release information or further details about the operation.