By Aaron Recuenco
The Philippine National Police (PNP) vowed on Monday to intensify its monitoring and police intervention as it expressed alarm over the boldness of a certain group of foreign workers in committing criminal activities in the country.
Philippine National Police spokesperson Brig. General Bernard Banac . (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez) / MANILA BULLETIN
From prostitution and kidnapping, PNP Spokesperson Brig. Gen. Bernard Banac has cited the involvement of two Chinese in the killing of their countryman, who worked in an online gaming company based in the country, in a restaurant in Makati City last week.
"We will intensify the monitoring because we do not want a similar incident to happen wherein they are now in possession of illegally-acquired guns which they used in killing their fellow Chinese," Banac said in an interview at Camp Crame on Monday.
"We do not want the scenario that Filipinos would be shot, whether by accident or deliberate, with the Chinese as suspects," he added.
On Thursday, two Chinese shot dead 33-year old Yin Jian Tao, a worker for a Philippine offshore gaming operator (POGO), and wounded the latter's companion Kai Zheng.
According to the police, Yin met the two suspects through popular Chinese messaging system WeChat and decided to meet to exchange 300,000 worth Philippine pesos to Chinese currency renminbi.
Police said the suspects appeared to have an intention to dupe the victim as they did not have money with them.
The plot thickens
The investigation into the case became alarming as the police confiscated identification cards for the People's Liberation Army of China from the suspects identified as Yang Chao Wen and Liang Yuan Wu.
This triggered speculations that China is now boldly sending its military personnel to spy on the Philippines.
The incident also happened after Sen. Richard Gordon had expressed his alarm over the flow of laundered money through the POGOs, which are banned in China but are allowed to operate in the Philippines.
Banac said the two PLA identification cards do not belong to either of the arrested suspects.
"The name and photo of the person in the does not belong to any of the two. We are now coordinating with our Chinese counterparts to identify the person in the ID," said Banac.
Spying?
Banac said they have not monitored cases of spying in the country by Chinese. "There are no indications of that. There are no pieces of evidence pointing to them as spies."
But Banac said the shooting incident in Makati will lead to intensified monitoring and other activities by the police.
Influx
Hundreds of thousands of Chinese are currently working in POGOs in the Philippines.
A report of the PNP Anti-Kidnapping Group pointed to the rise of POGOs in the Philippines as the reason behind the uptick of casino and POGO-related kidnappings in the country, particularly in the southern part of Metro Manila.
Aside from kidnappings, the rise of prostitution that caters to Chinese clients is also attributed to the increase of these foreign workers into the country.