Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 19) — The country is hosting its very own scam hubs operated by trafficked foreign nationals who are forced to swindle other people, Senator Risa Hontiveros said during a Senate hearing on Wednesday.
According to the lawmaker, the trafficking victims number “in the hundreds, and perhaps even in the thousands” and are reportedly from Indonesia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar, and nations in Africa and South Asia.
“Nothing prepared us for what we discovered,” Hontiveros said during a Senate Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations and Gender Equality hearing.
“Right under our very noses, a humanitarian crisis is taking shape,” she added.
Hontiveros said while scam hubs in other nations such as Cambodia and Myanmar are in remote provinces, similar sites in the Philippines are situated in the country’s capital – with one of them just a few minutes’ drive from the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).
“Large condominium buildings are being repurposed to be used as living and working facilities for trafficked human beings being forced to perform scams on hapless victims,” she said.
The senator presented an Indonesian national, with the alias “Ridwan,” identified as a victim of the illicit activities.
The witness, who virtually testified during the hearing while wearing sunglasses and a hooded jacket, said he arrived in Manila from Jakarta on March 7 after being hired for a job described online as a “digital marketing” post.
He narrated that he found the job opening on Facebook and flew to the country with two other Indonesians hired to work for the same company
Ridwan said upon arriving in NAIA, they were brought to a condominium near the airport called Bayport West NAIA Garden Residences, where he was handed a contract to sign but wasn’t given the time to read.
The witness also said his passport was taken from him.
According to Ridwan, there were at least a hundred other Indonesians, along with victims of other nationalities, in the condominium that became their living quarters. He said there were also several Filipinos in the building, which he believes is entirely being used as a scam hub.
“Basically, we were instructed to steal the identity of other people and use their identity to scam targets,” Ridwan said, adding that the targets were people they found on social media platforms such as Tinder, Facebook, and Instagram, and whom they were told to scam into investing in fraudulent cryptocurrency.
“We need to get money from them and scam,” he added. “When we do not get victim, we will get punishment.”
Ridwan said he believes some workers had their salaries withheld. Some were even electrocuted as punishment, he added.
Hontiveros said Ridwan – who was eventually able to leave the illegal firm and return to Indonesia on March 16 – has executed a sworn affidavit before the Philippine Embassy in Jakarta. This affidavit has already been turned over to the National Bureau of Investigation.
No CCTV footage
Authorities are considering the possible involvement of airport or immigration personnel in the trafficking of foreigners for the scam hubs.
It was revealed during the hearing, however, that the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA), which manages NAIA, no longer has a copy of the CCTV footage of Ridwan’s arrival in the airport.
According to MIAA head Cesar Chiong, their storage capacity is only good for 30 days. Bureau of Immigration Commissioner Norman Tansingco meanwhile said the capacity of the bureau’s CCTV system in NAIA Terminal 3 – which only covers immigration counters – is only good for less than 30 days.
Tansingco said upgrading their CCTV system in Terminals 1 and 3 would require an additional budget of some ₱10 million, which they do not have.
“Could you tell the department (Department of Budget and Management) na inaapura ng Senate committee itong pag-upgrade ng CCTV equipment, systems ninyo?” Hontiveros said.
“The bureau cannot even provide us critical video sa aming mga investigation to stop this human trafficking and crypto scamming,” she added.
[Translation: Could you tell the department that we want the upgrade of MIAA’s CCTV system fast-tracked? The bureau cannot even provide us critical video for our investigation to stop this human trafficking and crypto scamming.]
Hontiveros and Sen. Raffy Tulfo, who chairs the Senate committee on migrant workers, demanded the agencies to give an update by next week.
IACAT, NBI grilled
Aside from the surprise by the lack of copies of CCTV footage, Hontiveros and Tulfo aired their “impatience and exasperation” on the initial probes of the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT) and National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) on the alleged scam hub in Bayport West NAIA Garden Residences.
The Philippine National Police also bared this was its first time to hear a supposed operation in the area — on which Ridwan claimed at least 1,000 foreigners are working in the Bayport complex.
IACAT Undersecretary Nicholas Felix Ty admitted lapses, saying the condominium complex was not yet on the council’s radar. However, he said they are familiar with the modus but they did not know its intensity.
“Please don’t disappoint us lalo na’t habang medyo coming full circle na po tayo [especially that it looks like we are coming to a full circle] on this particular investigation at mukhang palala nang palala ‘yong problema [as the problem seems to worsen],” Hontiveros told Ty.
NBI anti-human trafficking chief Catherine Nolasco said their agents’ initial visualization of the condominium confirmed that there are many foreigners going in and out of the area.
Alvin Camba, a professor of Josef Korbel School at the University of Denver, said this scam hub may be “simply just one operation that’s happening underneath many operations,” adding that scam hubs and Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs) have some similarities.
“I call on the NBI and the PNP to act on this at once,” Hontiveros said. “This is a serious national security issue we must urgently address.”
Tulfo and Hontiveros also wanted to hear the side of the Securities and Exchange Commission, especially on a supposed revocation of the license to operate of the Bayport complex’s developer Tambo Realty Corp.
