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Hontiveros urges immediate end to ‘massive’ scamming operations in PH
By HANA BORDEY,GMA Integrated NewsSenate Deputy Minority Leader Risa Hontiveros is urging the government to put an immediate stop to the “massive” scamming operations in the country after around 1,000 people of different nationalities were rescued in Clark, Pampanga.
In a statement, Hontiveros pointed out that the scamming network in the country “runs as deep and wide as the apparent corruption at our borders.”
“We expect all agencies to be at full throttle to end the massive scamming operations that put our Filipinos and fellow Asians in danger. If these scam networks are using POGOs as a legal cover, we also need to blow the lid off that. We cannot tolerate such abuses and twisting of the law,” she said.
She lamented the supposed slow reforms in the Bureau of Immigration since the Senate investigation into the “pastillas scam,” which allowed the illegal entry of foreign nationals into the country in exchange for cash concealed in rolled paper wrapper.
“Over the years, since we exposed the pastillas scam, we have sounded out on BI reformation, but we have yet to see the results of any improvements done. Dapat dalhin ng Bureau of Immigration ang buong bigat ng patong patong na panloloko, human trafficking, at labor abuses sa iba't ibang nasyonalidad,” she said.
(The Bureau of Immigration must carry the burden of several cases of fraud, human trafficking, and labor abuses of people of different nationalities.)
Last Congress, Hontiveros led the Senate investigation into the “pastillas” bribery scheme
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In April, the Senate women, children, family relations, and gender equality committee learned about human trafficking cases involving foreigners who were recruited to work in cryptocurrency scam in the Philippines.
During the hearing, an Indonesian identified as Ridwan shared how he passed through the airport and was brought to a building which is allegedly being used as "living and working" facilities for trafficked foreigners recruited to perform scams on unknowing victims.
Hontiveros said the trafficking victims were reportedly from Indonesia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar, countries in Africa, and countries in South Asia.
Meanwhile, Senator Grace Poe has filed a resolution seeking a Senate probe into the alleged human trafficking and cyber fraud operations at the Clark Sun Valley Hub Corporation inside the Clark Freeport Zone.
"There is an urgent need to determine the supposed existence and cease the operations of these 'scam hubs' in the country for the protection of our citizens and foreign nationals that are being victimized by this kind of human trafficking scheme," she said in her resolution.
Similar to Hontiveros' call, Poe said the BI must also explain the presence of foreign workers and show what kind of visas they hold.
Further, the lawmaker highlighted the need for other law enforcement agencies such as the Philippine National Police, the National Bureau of Investigation, Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission, and the Inter-Agency Council on Anti-Trafficking to intensify their operations against human trafficking of foreign nationals into the country.—AOL, GMA Integrated News