THE Department of Justice (DOJ) yesterday said state prosecutors have filed human trafficking complaints against a dozen suspected traffickers, all foreign nationals, in connection with the rescue of more than 1,000 trafficking victims in Pampanga three days ago.
In a media briefer issued late Monday afternoon, the DOJ said the alleged human traffickers underwent inquest proceedings on May 6.
“The identified traffickers were assisted by PAO Manila and executed a waiver of their rights under Article 125 of the Revised Penal Code, through the duly certified interpreters from the Chinese and Indonesian Embassies,” the DOJ said.
“The hearing was reset to May 15 to allow respondents to file their counter-affidavits,” it added.
The arrested suspects are under the custody of the Philippine National Police Anti-Cybercrime Group.
The DOJ said more individuals could be charged as the investigation is still ongoing. “We anticipate there (will be) further investigation on other parties complicit in the trafficking of the victims but were either not present on the site or yet to be identified as traffickers,” it said.
Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla said he has yet to get any information if there were Filipino nationals among the suspected traffickers, or if Filipinos are involved in the activities of the trafficking syndicates.
“I was told they are foreign nationals who underwent inquest proceedings on Saturday,” Remulla told reporters in a chance interview.
“There were Filipinos who are employed by these people, but I don’t know if they were part of this fraudulent operation,” he added.
The DOJ said 129 Filipinos were among the 1,000 victims rescued by law enforcers. The rest included 389 Vietnamese, 307 Chinese, 143 Indonesians, 40 Nepalese, 25 Malaysians, 7 from Myanmar, 5 Thais, 2 Taiwanese, and one Hong Kong citizen.
The victims were allegedly recruited “as call center agents to entice foreign customers from the United States, Canada, and Europe to invest in cryptocurrency.” They were mostly males and were instructed to pretend to be attractive women to lure their victims to invest their money.
DOJ Assistant Secretary and spokesperson Jose Dominic Clavano said the suspected traffickers are facing human trafficking complaints in relation to violation of the Anti-Cybercrime law, serious illegal detention, kidnapping and violation of immigration laws.
Meanwhile, Remulla said he will meet with the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (Pagcor) to get additional information regarding the licenses it has been issuing when he was asked how the suspected traffickers were able to operate a “call center” in Pampanga.
The DOJ chief said he will also do the same with the Bureau of Immigration.
The victims were rescued at the Colorful and Leap Group Company located at Clark Sun Valley Hub, Jose Abad Santos Avenue in Mabalacat City.
Aside from the PNP-ACG, personnel from the Special Action Force, and Intelligence Group, Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission, DOJ, Department of Social Welfare and Development, BI, and Interagency Council on Anti-Trafficking also joined the rescue operation.
Meanwhile, Sen. Grace Poe filed a resolution urging the appropriate panel to investigate the rampant alleged human trafficking and cyber fraud activities in the country.
“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,” said Poe in filing Senate Resolution No. 595.
She said the ‘scam hub’ operating in Clark Sun Valley Hub Corp. was similar to the one disclosed during the April 19 hearing of the Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations, and Gender Equality as revealed by an Indonesian who fell prey to the syndicate’s scam.
