STATEMENT OF SENATOR RISA HONTIVEROS ON THE ARREST OF 3 CHINESE AND 1 VIETNAMESE NATIONALS FOR ALLEGED KIDNAPPING AND KILLING OF FILIPINO-CHINESE

I am sure that our police is already looking into the possibility that this gruesome murder is POGO-related.

As our Senate Committee on Women previously uncovered, POGOs have been responsible for numerous criminal activities, such as prostitution, tax evasion, and illegal detention. In fact, our office assisted a Taiwanese national, alias Ivy, who escaped from a POGO company, after being illegally detained and sexually harassed, among others.

Our Committee also found that kidnapping is one of the ways some POGO actors use to generate more income. Ang iba nangingidnap for ransom lalo na kung may mga hindi pagkakasunduan sa mga POGO players o sa POGO company. Kaya hindi malayong mangyari na POGO-related itong nangyaring kidnap-slay sa isang Chinese Filipino.

Napatotohanan narin ng napakaraming imbestigasyon sa iba't ibang kumite sa Senado na puro krimen lang ang dala ng online gambling kaya hindi kagulat-gulat kung ang patayang ito ay kaugnay nga sa POGO. Should this incident be proven to be POGO-related, it will only strengthen our longstanding call to kick POGOs out of the country.

I also urge Malacañang to support the Senate's proposal to ban POGOs now. Walang mabuting naidala sa bansa kaya't palayasin na.