AT least 1,368 Chinese and other Southeast Asian nationals “rescued” by Philippine authorities last May 4 inside a Clark Freeport Zone-based suspected POGO (Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator) hub-turned main base of online scammers were found to be being treated like slaves by the operators who ask them to pay huge fines for infractions of so-many company rules, the Journal Group has learned.

An accounting of the poor Southeast Asian nationals found in the seven buildings of Sun Valley Clark Hub Corporation in Pampanga showed that were four male and two female Bhutan nationals; 275 Chinese nationals composed of 45 females and 240 males; one male Indian national; and 249 Indonesian nationals composed of 209 males and 40 females.

There were also 33 Malaysians composed of 28 males and five females; 43 Myanmar nationals, composed of 25 females; one Moroccan; 104 Nepalese, including 64 males; one male Taiwanese; 13 Thai nationals, ten of them females; 443 Vietnamese nationals, including 326 males; and 35 Filipinos, most of them females with ages ranging from 20-25 years old.

Overall, a total of 1,333 persons Chinese and other Southeast Asian nationals and 235 Filipinos were rounded up during the raid conducted by agents from the Philippine National Police Anti-Cybercrime Group (PNP-ACG) and the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC).

Of the 275 Chinese nationals rounded-up, 190 were also found to be with no passports at all. The Chinese Embassy is currently communicating with the Bureau of Immigration (BI) and the PNP regarding the deportation of six of the 275 Chinese nationals who were found to be fugitives facing major crimes in China.

A record check showed that the rescued online scam workers were housed in buildings originally leased by the Dongwang Clark Corporation and sub-leased by Sun Valley Clark Hub Corporation. The company is said to have been operational over the past three months.

Working in the Clark facility is like “working in hell,” many of the rescued workers said. While they were promised huge salaries and overtime pay and a good working environment, many of the workers said they found out they were duped by their recruiters.

Apart from not getting their salaries for months and their passports confiscated, the workers are lectured on the company’s “Violation List” which carries huge fines for each infraction, which may be considered absurd to some.

Authorities said this could be the reason why many Asian POGO workers in the country have incurred huge debt from their employers during their short stints in their companies. Failure to pay those debts means one POGO worker will be held against his/her will and ‘sold’ to another company.

If they opt to quit, the workers need to pay US$1,500 to as much as P300,000 to the company.

The offenses and their corresponding fines include the following fines which are automatically deducted from their salaries: a mandatory P50,000 fine for employees with fake IDs including temporary IDs, those found using 2 IDs, and those found forging, falsifying, or altering official documents; smoking in non-smoking areas carry a P1,000, P5,000 and P10,000 fine for the 1st, 2nd and 3rd offense and an additional P50,000 fine in case a smoker triggers the fire alarm; illegal activation of fire sprinkler/alarm and improper use of firefighting equipment carries a P50,000 fine; blocking and tampering of fire protection devices such as sprinklers, fire alarms, fire extinguishers and fire hose cabinets carry a P10,00 penalty; intrusion or forced entry in restricted areas, including management offices and telecommunication rooms carry a P5,000 fine; tampering of the CCTV system carries a P50,000 penalty; unauthorized use of elevator for delivery and/or pullout of items carry a P1,000 fine; obstruction of common areas like walkways, corridors, lobby and exits carries a P10,000 penalty; vandalism means a P10,000 fine; and unauthorized tapping/plugging of power also carries a P10,000 penalty.

The company also has a strict penalty for illegal detention, illegal foreign currency exchange and illegal use of company logo/name, as they are all offenses that would automatically trigger the termination of the employee.

Cooking inside the dormitory is also banned, while the use of fake or altered car passes within the premise is an offense that carries a P50,000 penalty. The workers were also banned from having or entertaining visitors.

The company workers were also strictly barred from smoking in the toilet; throwing objects like napkins inside the toilet bowl and urinals; urinating/defecating/spitting on the floor; stepping on toilet bowl with or without cover; and making any form of vandalism.

Violation of any of those rules carries a P1,000 fine on the 1st offense; a P3,000 fine on the 2nd offense; and a P5,000 fine on the 3rd offense.

These are just among the many details discovered inside the raided facility which has been tagged as the “mother of all human traffickers” in the country and possibly even abroad.

The investigation kept going as Southeast Asian leaders including President Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos Jr. on Wednesday pledged to crack down on online scams operated by human traffickers known for preying on vulnerable jobseekers from impoverished Asian countries.

The ASEAN summit in Indonesia called for a regional approach to combat human trafficking in which syndicates use social media and other online platforms to victimize innocent people before virtually holding them captive and forced to defraud targets online while housed in converted casinos or in special economic zones in poor Southeast Asian nations.

Last Saturday, the PNP-ACG headed by Brigadier General Sydney S. Hernia sought the filing of charges for serious illegal detention and violation of Republic Act (RA) 10364 or the Expanded Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2012 and RA 10175 or the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012 against 12 of the accused before the Department of Justice (DOJ).

Investigators said they have discovered that offshore gaming operations are run by organized groups, thus they will not limit themselves to one type of crime and would resort to multiple revenue streams.

One official privy to the raid said that around 800 workers do the “con job” for the company every single day. Each individual is also believed to be gypping a minimum of US$1,000 a day from their victims.

The official said their rough estimate shows that the company earns around US$800,000 a day or roughly US24 million or P1.34 billion a month. (to be concluded)