POLICE Regional Office 3 director Brig. General Jose S. Hidalgo Jr. yesterday assured Central Luzon residents, including guest and investors, that the region remain safe and secure amid their proactive measures to stem criminality and enforce the law 24/7.

The official made the assurance as he clarified a Journal Group report regarding the recovery of the bodies of at least 65 foreign nationals in Central Luzon in 2023, all said to be victims of abduction and summary killings.

The Journal Group published the article based on official reports from the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission and the Philippine National Police Directorate for Operation amid the order of PNP chief Gen. Rommel Francisco D. Marbil to investigate cases of “recovered dead bodies” in the region.

Hidalgo, however, said the Journal Group report has “caused significant repercussions, potentially damaging the reputation of Police Regional Office 3 and alarming the public,” prompting him to seek for clarification.

“Our records from January 2019 to the present show 51 incidents involving foreign nationals: 34 non-crime incidents and 10 crimes against foreigners of Chinese descent,” the official said.

According to the official, since he assumed office on February 22, 2023, there were 18 cases involving foreigners which were reported in the region but none of them related to Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators or POGOs or near POGO hubs in the region.

“PRO3 remains dedicated to ensuring safety and security in Central Luzon, collaborating with other agencies and foreign embassies to ensure safety around POGO hubs. We appreciate your cooperation in publishing a rejoinder that accurately reflects our findings,” the member of PNP Academy “Tagapagkalinga” Class of 1991 said.

In trying to correct the report, Hidalgo said that their records regarding foreign nationals from January 2019 to present show that 51 incidents were recorded, wherein 34 incidents were non-crime or 66.66 percent, and 17 were crime incidents.

Of the 17 recorded crime incidents, he said that six cases were solved, six were cleared reflecting a 70.58 percentage of resolution of cases, while five are still under investigation.

He said that these cases also took place in areas far from the vicinity of POGO hubs in the region.

Map plotting, the official said reflects that the incident in Bulacan is more or less 110 kms. from the raided POGO hub in Porac, Pampanga while the incidents in Bataan and Olongapo City were 70 kms. and 58 kms. from the Porac, Pampanga POGO hub which has been described by officials as a “scam farm.”

Also, the recorded incident in Nueva Ecjia is more or less 75 kms. from the Bamban POGO hub which was also raided by PAOCC and PNP authorities.

Hidalgo, however, said they investigated an alleged shooting incident which took place on SCTEX access road in Bgy. Hacienda Dolores in Porac municipality around 3:30 a.m. on June 23, 2023, which left three Chinese nationals dead.

The shooting victims were identified as Zeng Peng, 25; Tang Huawei, 36; and Zhang Shicheng, 22.

An investigation showed that the victims and the suspects who came from Pasay City exchanged fire after arriving in the area.

An investigation conducted by the Porac Municipal Police Station showed that a passerby saw one of the victims lying down on the road, with a gunshot wound, while another was inside the driver’s side of the vehicle described as a white Hyundai Santa Fe with plate no. NWQ-874.

The investigation showed that Zeng Peng is engaged in a money-changing business in a Pasay City casino-hotel until February 2023 while the two other victims were POGO employees.

The Special Investigation Task Group Santa Fe activated by the PRO3 to investigate the incident on July 18, 2023 filed a criminal complaint for multiple murder against one Chinese national identified as Hong Tianfu and several other co-accused before the San Fernando City Prosecutor’s Office.

Hidalgo also mentioned an incident in Bgy. Manual in Porac, Pampanga, where barangay officials rescued a Chinese national identified as Zhou Jie Hey around 7:50 a.m. of November 19, 2023.

The victim was found on a grassy slope in Bgy. Manuali and was immediately taken to a local hospital for treatment.

During an interview, the victim said he was with four other Chinese males and a female Chinese when they were snatched in Pasay City.

The victim said that their abductors also demanded ransom money for their release until he was able to escape. He also expressed belief that his other companions might have already been killed by the suspects.

True enough, members of the Porac MPS recovered the body of one of the kidnapping victims identified as Shaoru Huang,52, a resident of City Plaza Tower in Binondo, Manila lying on a grassy part of Bgy. Mancaitan.

The body of the victim was released to his family by the PNP Anti-Kidnapping Group on November 17, 2023.

The investigation also triggered the filing of criminal charges for kidnapping with serious illegal detention, frustrated murder and murder against two Chinese nationals identified as Bao Mei, a 34-year-old resident of Lahug, Cebu City, and Wei Lian, a resident of Gardens by the Bay in Roxas Boulevard, Pasay City before the Pampanga Provincial Prosecutor’s Office.

Hidalgo also said that only five crime incidents involving foreign nationals were recorded by the Angeles City Police Office during the period in review. Of these, four incidents were solved while the 5th is still under investigation, he said.

The official also said that their records show that from January 2019 to present, seven cases of murder were recorded in Pampanga while two strangulation incidents were investigated in Bulacan and Bataan respectively.

This, he said reflects 17 percent of the 52 incidents that is far less than the 65 previously reported.

“I’d like to clarify the report that no suspects have been identified nor charged in court as our records showed that 70.58 percent of found dead body incidents in the region were solved,” Hidalgo said.

He added that of the seven found cadaver cases, six were cleared and one is under investigation.

“ It only shows that investigators on the field are exerting their best efforts in investigating and solving said cases,” he said.

Marbil earlier said that the former Pampanga provincial police director and the chief of the Porac municipal police station were administratively relieved from their posts in the aftermath of the Porac POGO raid.

The anti-POGO raid in Bamban, Tarlac also led to the relief of 49 local policemen led by their police chief.

AUTHOR PROFILE

People's Journal