Woman lured into fake job, held in POGO office for P250K ransom —Poe

A woman who fell victim to a bogus job vacancy was allegedly kidnapped and sold off to some Chinese nationals in another Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO)-related incident, Senator Grace Poe has said.

According to Jun Veneracion’s report on “24 Oras” on Thursday, Poe bared the incident in a privilege speech on Wednesday evening, where she raised alarm on the continuing POGO-related abductions in the country.

Poe said the victim —  a friend of her sister-in-law — was offered a job as a personal assistant with a monthly salary of P100,000. She was supposed to meet her employer outside her condo in Pasay City but was forcibly taken inside a multi-purpose vehicle.

The victim was brought to an unknown area in Cavite where some Chinese-looking individuals offered to buy her for P320,000. She appealed to one of the buyers for help, with the promise she will be bailed out by her brother-in-law.

Information gathered by Poe’s office showed the victim was brought to a POGO dorm in Shuang Ma Industrial Park in Bacoor, Cavite after the transaction. It is also where her relative rescued her after paying a ransom worth P250,000.

“I said it before and I'll say it again, an abduction case is one too many. Leave it unresolved and it will spread like wildfire and here we are, still trying to save it. And when it has been consistently out of control,” said Poe in her speech.

The Bacoor City Police said it is now coordinating with the management of Shuang Ma Industrial Park for the investigation.

“Well of course, nababahala kami that's why nung lumabas itong pahayag ni Senador Poe, syempre magco-conduct uli kami ng investigation regarding this matter,” Bacoor CPS Chief PLTC. Ruther Saquilayan said.

(Of course, we are alarmed by it, that's why we will conduct an investigation on the matter again following Sen. Poe’s statements .)

Meanwhile, the Philippine National Police Anti-Kidnapping Group (PNP-AKG) said it will reach out to the office of the senator.

“Mas maganda po sana kung itong sinasabing friend na naka-witness, mabigay man lang sana ang pangalan para mapuntahan namin discreetly,” PNP-AKG Director P/Brig. Gen. Rodolfo Castil Jr. said.

(It is better if this friend, who witnessed the incident, can be named so we can approach him discreetly.)

The Pasay City Police, for its part, said it had already deployed investigators to the condo where the victim was allegedly abducted.

“Kung pwedeng i-request natin 'yung CCTV nila para makita natin kung...we want to find out kung talagang nangyari ito. But for now we assure that the security of the general public,” Pasay City CPS Chief Pcol. Byron Tabernilla said.

(We can request for their CCTV… we want to find out what happened. But for now, we assure the security of the general public.)

The PNP-AKG said there were 17 reported kidnapping incidents in 2022 — a slight increase from the 12 incidents in 2021. However, they admitted some incidents remained unreported.—Sundy Locus/LDF, GMA Integrated News