Crimes against Chinese on the rise — watchdog

KIDNAPPINGS AND other crimes related to gambling and victimizing Chinese nationals are on the rise, warned a citizens watchdog in a recent statement.

“Crimes related to casino or online gambling are on the rise. They no longer just result in torture and extortions but also ... kidnapping, suicide sand outright homicide and murders,” the Movement for Restoration of Peace and Order (MRPO) said in a statement on March 11.

According to the group, the Anti-Kidnapping Group (AKG) of the Philippine National Police (PNP) has “recorded 15 victims of casino-related kidnapping incidents in 2018, and eight victims in the first two months of 2019.”

“This averages two victims a month, but MRPO reports that easily, five times more cases go unreported and therefore, undocumented by the AKG,” MRPO said.

“The incidents proliferate in geometric progression the past few years. The main problem is, very rarely do the victims file a case or pursue a case even if already filed.”

“The Tsinoy community likewise reports several cases of casino-related suicides, which apparently, are not reported to the police. Some of the victims were reportedly invited to work in the Philippines but before they start to work, they were enticed to gamble first to learn the ropes,” said MRPO.

The group added, “Unable to pay for the losses, they are then kept in a safe house, beaten and tortured until their families pay off. But a few victims decide to jump off tall buildings to spare their families the agony of paying off debts that their family cannot afford to pay.”