THE driver of the kidnapped 14-year-old student who was found alive Tuesday night in Parañaque City was part of a Chinese syndicate behind the abduction, Local Government Secretary Jonvic Remulla said Thursday.

In a TV interview, Remulla said the driver was murdered by his cohorts after the boy was kidnapped last week.

"But he is not here to defend himself anymore," Remulla said.

Remulla said the boy texted his father that they were taking a different route on their way to their residence in the BGC area in Taguig City, from the school also in the city.

After exiting the C-5 road, Remulla said the driver and the victim transferred to another vehicle, leaving their Ford Everest sports utility vehicle that the authorities later recovered.

The body of the driver and his cell phone were found inside another vehicle in San Rafael, Bulacan, on Friday.

"According to the contents of the cell phone... he was in cahoots with the perpetrators of the crime. He was part of the syndicate," Remulla said.

"And according to the information that we got, he was only an employee for one month before the incident happened," he added.

Asked why the driver was killed by his cohorts when he was part of the group, Remulla said: "That is part of the drill because he would be the first suspect in an incident like that."

He said the syndicate that kidnapped the boy is composed of 22 men, including four Chinese who are the leaders while the 18 others were Filipino "former bodyguards and former henchmen."

The masterminds are the Chinese, Remulla said.

He said one of the suspects, earlier identified as Wang Dan Yu, also known as Bao Long, was also linked to a shooting in Makati City in October last year, in which another Chinese man was killed.

"He is the main suspect, the mastermind of this syndicate," Remulla said

Efforts to find him have failed so far, but Remulla said he was optimistic that he would be arrested.

"We will find him. We know who he is. We know where he hangs out. We have his numbers. We know his people. And we are almost certain that we will get him pretty soon," he said.

The suspects sent videos to the boy's parents, one showing the cutting of the boy's right little finger and the other showed the boy singing his sister's favorite song.

"These people are barbaric, they have crossed the line of being human already. They've lost all conscience, they are psychopaths, they will do anything to gain an advantage," said Remulla.

Authorities said the kidnapping was related to a Philippine offshore gaming operator (POGO) as the boy's father had an unspecified amount of debt with the Chinese suspects who were also involved in POGO operations.

Sen. Grace Poe on Thursday said the kidnapping of the Chinese student raised a "grave public safety issue," saying "remnants of illegal POGOs appear to be very much around even after the government ban."

"It can't be business as usual for these ex-POGO operators that we have banished from our country. Authorities must go after these syndicates without letup to show the true mettle of our laws," Poe said.

Meanwhile, the Chinese Embassy in Manila said it would continue to work with the Philippines in combating crimes as it repatriated 100 Chinese involved in the operation of banned POGOs.

The embassy said law enforcement authorities of China and the Philippines on Tuesday jointly repatriated the Chinese who engaged in POGO activities in the country.

This marked "another step in the law enforcing cooperation of the two countries after the ban on POGO takes effect, showcasing the commitment of both sides in combating illegal gambling," the embassy said on Wednesday.

The Chinese government "is committed to cracking down on gambling and relevant crimes, and always asks overseas Chinese nationals to strictly abide by local laws and regulations, and not engage in any illegal and criminal activities," it added.

"We urge the Philippines to completely eradicate the scourge inflicted by offshore gambling as soon as possible," the embassy said in a statement.

"In the meantime, we also call on the Philippines to conduct law enforcement in a just manner, and ensure the legitimate and lawful rights and interests of Chinese nationals in the Philippines," the embassy added.