IT is disheartening to note that despite huge peace and order gains by the Philippine National Police since the start of the Bongbong Marcos presidency, some people and groups continue to air their discontent on the new administration and continue to churn out fake news which easily trigger public scare.

Latest of these disinformation involve fake news on kidnappings-for-ransom which prompted the Movement for Restoration of Peace and Order and the Federation of Filipino-Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Inc. to seek an audience with DILG Secretary Benhur Abalos Jr. and PNP chief, General Jun Azurin on Friday.

I was informed by MMRPO and FFCCCII officials who were present at the White House meeting with Sec. Abalos, Gen. Azurin and PNP Anti-Kidnapping Group director, Colonel Jun Castil that it was an ‘enlightening occasion’ in which they exchanged bright ideas with our security officials.

The series of fake news include the latest in which the Philippine Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry which is entirely different from the FFCCCII claimed that 56 KFR cases took place in Metro Manila in just 10 days only have been played up by a number of organizations, including media outlets who are known to be very much against PBBM.

The question is who are benefiting from those fake news? Are they contributing to the economy which we need to build up under the new normal triggered by the pandemic? Will our authorities be able to identify and file charges against personalities behind these hoax news?

The MRPO represented by my friends Architect Ka Kuen Chua and Ms. Tessie Ang-See already has cautioned the Filipino-Chinese community to be wary of unverified social media posts on alleged kidnappings which have caused some public scare as the group called on the police force to go after persons who are circulating these fake news. The job actually goes to the PNP Anti-Cybercrime Group headed by Brigadier Gen. Joel Doria.

“Kidnappings and rumors of kidnappings of Chinese nationals have been causing much anxiety in the Chinese -Filipino community. Circulating in social media are a mixture of truths and half-truths. Exaggerations, false and recycled news,” said Architect Chua in a statement.

“This includes two YouTube videos, one in English and Filipino and another n Chinese that went viral. It had gone around for almost a week already. Some details are true, but most of the content is a summary of the many other posts, many of which are baseless and exaggerated. This caused even more fears,” he added.

The MRPO chair’s statement said that “one post has a headline,: “56 incidents in just 5 days,” but the entire post doesn’t give details of any incident. Sadly, the YouTube post repeated this baseless news. If you know the YouTube vloggers, do alert them that they may be liable for disruption of public order under the cybercrime law,” he said.

The MRPO cited the country’s law which provides “punishment to any persons who by any means of publication shall publish as news any false news which may endanger the public order or cause damage to the interest or credit of the State.” However, the MRPO said that what is true right now is that POGO- related incidents of kidnapping of Chinese nationals are increasing.

“Some of the victims are gamblers who frequent the casinos and become targets of opportunity. Others are workers and gamblers who accumulate debts and are held hostage by the casino or by their own employers. Some of them are turned over to syndicated “collectors” many of whom are members of criminal syndicates. Those turned over to them are held hostage, tortured, threatened while money is extorted from their families in China,” it said.

The MRPO confirmed a PNP-AKG report that payments, which used to be made in legitimate bank accounts in China, are now made through black market remittance centers in because of strict government policies on remittances and money laundering.

The MRPO added that “it is also true that after a crackdown of illegal gambling in Cambodia, some members of the Chinese syndicates found a safe haven here.” “It is also not something new. We have reported such incidents to police authorities way back in 2019. Remember the businessman from Thailand who was taken from a KTV bar in 2019? That news went viral and the kidnappers have wide network not just in China and Southeast Asia but even in Europe,” it explained.

The group also confirmed that many of the recent victims are female victims of human trafficking who, after being promised high-paying jobs in the country ended up in casinos or into prostitution. “ The rest of the stories are false and exaggerated, some are even videos of old incidents,” it said.

The MRPO has asked members of the Tsinoy community to refrain from forwarding unverified news so as not to create unnecessary fears and panic. “Though we all must stay vigilant and be extra cautious now that we go out more often, we also shouldn’t fall prey to false and sensational news,” said Architect Chua as he warned that those who post them may be liable under the anti-cybercrime law.

The MRPO at the same time urged the public to maintain its vigilance and to be extra careful. “Times are hard. People have not even recovered from the economic havoc caused by the pandemic when we are hit by inflation and poor management causing sky rocketing prices of basic goods. Times are hard. Do help those in need who you can help. We don’t want desperate people to resort to desperate measures. Extending help to those in need means we help our community and society keep peace and order,” said Ms. Ang-See.

The MRPO hit the nail right in the head when it made its statement. However, as I have been pointing out again and again, there is a need for a ‘whole-of-government approach’ to address the problem on POGO and casino-related kidnappings.

The PNP in general and the PNP-AKG in particular needs all the help it can get from the Department of Justice and Foreign Affairs, the DILG, the Bureau of Immigration, PAGCOR and all casino operators and their security teams to address the problem particularly posed by loan shark rings-turned kidnapping-for-ransom gangs mostly composed of rogue Chinese nationals acting with the help of their Filipino cohorts.

I was informed that during their meeting on Friday, Sec. Abalos and Gen. Azurin assured the Filipino-Chinese community representatives that all necessary police actions are being undertaken to keep the country’s streets safe 24/7 specifically from threats posed by kidnapping-for-ransom gangs.

Official PNP records showed that there were 27 kidnapping cases recorded in the country since last January, a far cry from the 56 reported by a business group to have taken place in the last 10 days alone.

Records also showed that many of the 27 cases reported since last January were either POGO or casino-related kidnappings. PNP-AKG records showed that 11 of the 27 cases have already been solved, which means that charges were already filed against arrested suspects while 4 others are considered ‘cleared’ or charges were already filed against still at-large suspects.

Of the 11 resolved cases, 7 are POGO-related kidnapping incidents.

The MRPO also called on Gen. Azurin and Col. Castil whom they described as ‘veterans’ in the anti-kidnapping campaign to help address reported kidnapping cases.However, the group admitted that the hands of police authorities are tied because of the failure of victims to cooperate with investigators.

“Both our Chief PNP Azurin and AKG Director Castil Jr. have been trying their best to assist but if no one reports or cooperates with them, there’s not much they can do,” Ka Kuen Chua said. The MRPO chair cited incidents where victims were rescued and cooperated with the PNP-AKG to file complaints against their tormentors.

However, the complainants after a week retracted their statements and withdrew their complaint because they were paid off and/or threatened by the syndicate members. The MRPO chairman said that unless victims start cooperating, they won’t be able to score breakthroughs in the anti-kidnapping campaign.

“We may return to the experience in the early 1990s when kidnappings happen almost one every other day because no one reports, cooperates, file cases and victims’ families pay ransom — big and fast. Some victims’ families pay big ransom in a matter of hours or days, thus encouraging more and more kidnappings and show that crimes pay and pay lucratively,” he said.

During the meeting, Ms. Ang-See underscored the need for the public including big business groups to help the PNP in its anti-criminality campaign by coming up with complete information regarding any crime incident specifically kidnappings so that they could be properly investigated. The MRPO founder even mulled the possibility that the purported 56 KFR cases reported by the PCCI. could be ‘cases of human trafficking’ which needs to be investigated by the police force.