THE Philippine National Police (PNP) on Thursday brushed off claims by the Philippine Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry that there has been a wave of kidnapping-for-ransom cases in the country saying the PCCI’s allegation that there have been 56 kidnapping incidents in the last 10 days alone have no basis at all.

PNP spokesperson, Colonel Jean Fajardo said their records will show that there were 27 kidnapping cases recorded in the country since last January, the number only less than half of the figure claimed by the PCCI to have had happened since the month started.

The official added that records from the PNP Anti-Kidnapping Group will also show that many of the 27 cases reported since last January were either POGO or casino-related kidnappings.

In many cases, Chinese and other Asian nationals lured by Chinese loan shark syndicates operating in posh casinos in Metro Manila are the ones abducting the victims who have failed to pay the debts they incurred after losing in the casino tables.

There were also cases of Chinese nationals being snatched by gangs operated by their own compatriots who sell them to other companies in what appear to be a modern-day version of human slavery.

Worst, many cases investigated by the PNP-AKG headed by Colonel Rodolfo D. Castil Jr., the PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group under Brigadier Gen. Ronald O. Lee and the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) headed by Brig. Gen. Jonnel D. Estomo in the past showed the victims were tortured in front of video cameras by their captors, the ‘torture video’ being sent to their families abroad to force them to immediately pay ransom thru WeChat.

There is one case in which several Chinese nationals kidnapped by their fellows were found being kept in dog cages where they were chained while undergoing torture.

PNP chief, General Rodolfo S. Azurin Jr. has ordered his men to hit harder on these kidnapping-for-ransom gangs who have been able to acquire high-powered weapons either from the black market or other criminal gangs too.

According to Col. Fajardo, the PCCI has not shown any real proof to support their claim.

She said that PNP-AKG records will show 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 remaining 12 others are still under investigation.

National Capital Region Police Office Regional Intelligence Division chief, Colonel Romano V. Cardiño said they have recorded only nine incidents from January to date too leading him to ask what is the basis of the PCCI in coming up with such a huge figure.

Col. Cardiño said they have been informed by the PNP-AKG that the PCCI has failed to show details regarding their claim so that police can validate them. Fajardo said that PNP-AKG officials met with PCCCI officials on Tuesday to clarify the matter.

The PNP spokesperson said that during the meeting, PCCCI officials failed to substantiate their claims about the 56 kidnapping cases and only said that ‘someone reported to them these incidents.’

During the meeting, the PCCCI officials were enlightened that for 2022, the official recorded number of kidnapping cases is only 27.

The PNP leadership likewise made it clear that the reported kidnappings do not appear to be linked to one another or the handiwork of just one organized crime group since records will show that arrested suspects have different motives.

In the case of the POGO and casino-related kidnappings, it is believed that Chinese gangsters from Mainland China have been recruited by syndicates in the country to work for them. Their specialization is to kidnap targets and torture them to force the hostages to pay ransom money or pay debts they incurred from loan shark rings complete with huge interests.

Gen. Azurin has also urged sobriety over the situation as he called on Filipinos to be wary of disinformation on social media designed to spread fear among the public.

“There is no breakdown of law and order. The peace and order situation in the entire country is still manageable. There are crimes that are highlighted in different platforms but definitely, the crime rate is still low and we continuously aspire to bring it down further,” the top cop said.

Gen. Azurin also said that the sum of index and non-index crimes has so far decreased by some 45.2 percent in the first few months under the Marcos administration compared to the same period during the previous Aquino and Duterte presidencies.

He also called on the public to watch out for fake news being churned up by different groups almost everyday.

“Other purported crime incidents posted on social media turned out to be either rehashed or completely false information. The PNP would like to do our part in educating our people to be more discerning of the true situation, particularly on crime matters, and be able to distinguish between crime hike and crime hype,” Gen. Azurin said.