ADVERTISEMENT
Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider PNP: Las Piñas anti-human trafficking ops legitimate; there was no maltreatment of rescued workers

PNP: Las Piñas anti-human trafficking ops legitimate; there was no maltreatment of rescued workers

Published Jul 3, 2023 06:17 am
The Philippine National Police (PNP) is standing on a legal ground when its personnel raided at least seven establishments that allegedly house a Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (POGO) hub in Las Piñas City on June 27 to rescue over 2,700 Filipino and foreign workers from alleged human trafficking.  PNP spokesperson Col. Jean Fajardo explained that the operations were covered by search warrants, which she said, underwent the proper legal process before a judge issued them for implementation. “There were complainants, there were witnesses presented and the fact that the search warrants were issued by an executive judge that handled it only means a probable cause was established,” said Fajardo in a press briefing at Camp Crame in Quezon City. “So for all intents and purposes, the operations conducted by the PNP on June 27 was legitimate,” she stressed. Fajardo made the statement amid various allegations questioning the conduct of the operations, as well as how the rescued Filipino and foreign workers were treated while they were under police custody. The legal counsel of the  Xinchuan Technologies, Inc., lawyer Ananias Vargas, has already sent two letters to the PNP— the request for an impartial conduct of an investigation and the request for medical treatment of the 13 foreign workers who were injured during an attempted escape on June 29. But Fajardo said all questions regarding the operations should be directed to the proper forum. “With due respect to the lawyer of the concerned agency, if they have questions in the implementation of the search warrants, there are proper forums to address their concern,” said Fajardo. “So if they have a question, they should bring it to the proper forum and our Anti-Cybercrime Group and other concerned units have already committed to respond to all possible questions with respect to the operations that were conducted,” she added. Profiling takes time  More than 2,700 Filipino and foreign workers were rescued during the operations and the 1,500 Filipinos were already released after being processed. On the part of the over 1,200 foreign workers, Fajardo said they are still being subjected to profiling in coordination with various embassy representatives in the country. The processing and the release of the Filipino workers were what triggered the commotion on June 29 when 48 of the foreign workers attempted to escape by climbing the wall with barbed wire. Such an incident, according to the police, was the reason why 13 of the foreign workers were injured.  Fajardo said it will take a few more days before the profiling is done, adding that there are only 600 foreigners who are still being subjected to the profiling process. Well prepared PNP chief information officer Brig. Gen. Redrico Maranan, for his part, said there were medical teams from the PNP present when the rescue operations were carried out on June 27. “Even before the start of the search warrant implementation, there were teams from Regional Health Service (National Capital Region Police Office) to provide medical emergencies and treatment to those who may suffer injury by accident,” said Maranan. He said barangay health workers were also present in the area and were among those who provided medical treatment to the injured foreigners.  He was reacting to the letter of Vargas that seeks medical attention to the injured foreign workers. “There is no need for a letter. Even without a letter, we will surely provide medical assistance because we value human rights. In fact, there’s human rights assistance desk in the area, manned by our personnel to ensure that the basic human rights are respected and observed,” said Maranan. Fajardo, for her part, denied the allegations that the police denied the medical treatment of the injured foriegners. “Again we categorically deny this. In fact, the local government unit of Las Piñas even provided ambulace and medical team to treat the victims which incurred minor injuries because they attempted to escape during the implementation of the search warrant,” said Fajardo. Fajardo also denied both the allegations that some of the injured foreigners suffered serious injuries and that there were three people who died during the warrant implementation. Charges filed Maranan earlier disclosed that the PNP has already filed criminal charges relating to violations of the country’s anti-human trafficking law against five foreigners in connection with the POGO raids. Those charged before the Department of Justice were Li Jiacheng, Xiao Liu, Yan Jiayong, Duan Haozhuan and LP Hongkun. All Chinese nationals. Fajardo, for her part, said ACG investigators are now conducting examinations on the confiscated computers and other gadgets. “We expect that once the examination of the recovered computers and other digital data is done, the ACG will file additional charges,” said Fajardo.
ADVERTISEMENT
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1561_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1562_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1563_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}

{{ articles_filter_1564_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.mb-article-details { position: relative; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview, .mb-article-details .article-body-summary{ font-size: 17px; line-height: 30px; font-family: "Libre Caslon Text", serif; color: #000; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview iframe , .mb-article-details .article-body-summary iframe{ width: 100%; margin: auto; } .read-more-background { background: linear-gradient(180deg, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0) 13.75%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0.8) 30.79%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000) 72.5%); position: absolute; height: 200px; width: 100%; bottom: 0; display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: center; padding: 0; } .read-more-background a{ color: #000; } .read-more-btn { padding: 17px 45px; font-family: Inter; font-weight: 700; font-size: 18px; line-height: 16px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; border: 1px solid black; background-color: white; } .hidden { display: none; }
function initializeAllSwipers() { // Get all hidden inputs with cms_article_id document.querySelectorAll('[id^="cms_article_id_"]').forEach(function (input) { const cmsArticleId = input.value; const articleSelector = '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .body_images'; const swiperElement = document.querySelector(articleSelector); if (swiperElement && !swiperElement.classList.contains('swiper-initialized')) { new Swiper(articleSelector, { loop: true, pagination: false, navigation: { nextEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-next', prevEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-prev', }, }); } }); } setTimeout(initializeAllSwipers, 3000); const intersectionObserver = new IntersectionObserver( (entries) => { entries.forEach((entry) => { if (entry.isIntersecting) { const newUrl = entry.target.getAttribute("data-url"); if (newUrl) { history.pushState(null, null, newUrl); let article = entry.target; // Extract metadata const author = article.querySelector('.author-section').textContent.replace('By', '').trim(); const section = article.querySelector('.section-info ').textContent.replace(' ', ' '); const title = article.querySelector('.article-title h1').textContent; // Parse URL for Chartbeat path format const parsedUrl = new URL(newUrl, window.location.origin); const cleanUrl = parsedUrl.host + parsedUrl.pathname; // Update Chartbeat configuration if (typeof window._sf_async_config !== 'undefined') { window._sf_async_config.path = cleanUrl; window._sf_async_config.sections = section; window._sf_async_config.authors = author; } // Track virtual page view with Chartbeat if (typeof pSUPERFLY !== 'undefined' && typeof pSUPERFLY.virtualPage === 'function') { try { pSUPERFLY.virtualPage({ path: cleanUrl, title: title, sections: section, authors: author }); } catch (error) { console.error('ping error', error); } } // Optional: Update document title if (title && title !== document.title) { document.title = title; } } } }); }, { threshold: 0.1 } ); function showArticleBody(button) { const article = button.closest("article"); const summary = article.querySelector(".article-body-summary"); const body = article.querySelector(".article-body-preview"); const readMoreSection = article.querySelector(".read-more-background"); // Hide summary and read-more section summary.style.display = "none"; readMoreSection.style.display = "none"; // Show the full article body body.classList.remove("hidden"); } document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => { let loadCount = 0; // Track how many times articles are loaded const offset = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]; // Offset values const currentUrl = window.location.pathname.substring(1); let isLoading = false; // Prevent multiple calls if (!currentUrl) { console.log("Current URL is invalid."); return; } const sentinel = document.getElementById("load-more-sentinel"); if (!sentinel) { console.log("Sentinel element not found."); return; } function isSentinelVisible() { const rect = sentinel.getBoundingClientRect(); return ( rect.top < window.innerHeight && rect.bottom >= 0 ); } function onScroll() { if (isLoading) return; if (isSentinelVisible()) { if (loadCount >= offset.length) { console.log("Maximum load attempts reached."); window.removeEventListener("scroll", onScroll); return; } isLoading = true; const currentOffset = offset[loadCount]; window.loadMoreItems().then(() => { let article = document.querySelector('#widget_1690 > div:nth-last-of-type(2) article'); intersectionObserver.observe(article) loadCount++; }).catch(error => { console.error("Error loading more items:", error); }).finally(() => { isLoading = false; }); } } window.addEventListener("scroll", onScroll); });
Join Our Newsletters

Sign up by email to receive news.

© 2025 Manila Bulletin The Nation's Leading Newspaper. All Rights Reserved.