Nearly 300 foreigners caught at Tarlac scam hub brought to Metro Manila

Nearly 300 foreign nationals who were apprehended at a Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (POGO) hub in Bamban, Tarlac, were brought to Metro Manila on Saturday.  

According to John Consulta’s report on ”24 Oras Weekend,” the foreign nationals who were transported by bus arrived at a Pasay City facility around 1 p.m.

A total of 204 foreigners were from China, 53 from Vietnam, 14 from Malaysia, two each from Indonesia and Rwanda, and one from Kyrgyzstan.

“Kung dadalhin sila sa immigration office, malapit lang dahil nasa Roxas Boulevard lang tayo. Kung pupunta sila sa DOJ, malapit sa DOJ. Kung may magkasakit, katabi namin yung ospital. Coordinated na kami with the Bureau of Immigration and papunta sila dito for the inquest proceedings,” said Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) Chief Gilbert Cruz.  

(If they are taken to the immigration office, it will be nearby because we are just on Roxas Boulevard. If they go to the Department of Justice, we’re close to the DOJ. If someone gets sick, the hospital is next to us. We have coordinated with the Bureau of Immigration, and they will be going here for the inquest proceedings.)

The report added that the foreign nationals will be staying in the country while the complaints for human trafficking and serious illegal detention are ongoing.

Teams from the Philippine National Police (PNP), Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), and the PAOCC conducted a joint raid on the 10-hectare compound of Zun Yuan Technology Incorporated on Wednesday.

A search warrant was issued after a Vietnamese national escaped and filed physical injuries and serious illegal detention complaints against the operators of the POGO firm. It was also alleged that foreign nationals were forced to conduct scamming activities and were physically hurt if they failed to reach their daily quota. — Sherylin Untalan/VBL, GMA Integrated News