Senator Win Gatchalian warned that some personnel of the Bureau of Immigration (BI) could be in cahoots with foreign fugitives associated with Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs), now called Internet Gaming Licensees (IGL). Gatchalian made the statement following the recent arrest of another foreign fugitive at a POGO/IGL facility in Bamban, Tarlac.
Chang Chia Wei, a Taiwanese national, was among the more than 500 foreign nationals accounted for during the raid conducted last March 13. Consequent verification with the BI using the foreign national’s biometrics revealed that the said Taiwanese national was in fact a fugitive in his own country. He is currently in the custody of the BI for deportation. Philippine authorities have yet to identify other foreign fugitives remaining in their custody.
Gatchalian pointed out that in the case of the police raid conducted in Las Pinas in June last year, at least 7 foreign fugitives were arrested, comprising 4 Chinese and 3 Taiwanese nationals. During the Sunvalley POGO raid in Clark in May last year, 17 foreign fugitives were identified in the said POGO hub. According to the legislator, these cases were also similar to the “pastillas scam” where foreigners were whisked past immigration counters in exchange for money rolled in white paper made to look like the local milk pastry called pastillas.
“Paano nakakapasok sa Pilipinas ang mga wanted fugitive mula sa ibang bansa? Sadyang nalulusutan lang ba tayo o talagang pinapalusot natin, alin ang tama?” Gatchalian quipped in disgust.
“Foreign POGO workers turning out to be fugitives in their respective countries have become a common occurrence in all the POGO raids we have seen in recent years. This indicates that they are part of organized criminal syndicates. It boggles the mind that the BI is unable to detect the entry of these fugitives, indicating that some of their personnel could be in cahoots with these fugitives,” said Gatchalian, who chairs the Senate Committee on Ways and Means.
The senator emphasized that the same atypical dedication displayed by some immigration officers in filtering outbound Filipino passengers to the point of demanding birth certificates, transcripts of school records, among others, should be applied to prevent foreign criminals from entering the country.
