Kidnappings, scams, gambling

First, it was a Chinese teenager who was kidnapped and whose finger was chopped off; the family driver was found dead, murdered in cold blood the day after the student went missing; police eventually found the victim on an abandoned road in Parañaque but failed to arrest the kidnappers.

Months later, kidnappers – believed to be the same syndicate – snatched their next victim, this time a prominent Filipino-Chinese businessman who was kidnapped while dining in a seafood restaurant somewhere near Manila Bay, as reported by Bilyonaryo.

This is not some edge-of-your-seat Netflix series, but real life here in the Philippines at the start of 2025.

InsiderPH said the businessman’s family has reportedly paid the ransom but the victim has yet to be released – as of this writing.

A source told me that initially, the ransom being asked from the businessman’s family was $20 million. It was the same amount demanded for the release of the kidnapped student, before it was reportedly lowered to $1 million.

Are kidnap-for-ransom activities making a comeback?

These could be remnants of the POGO or Philippine offshore gaming operators era where some illegal entities have been associated with criminal activities such as kidnappings, tortures and scams.

During a press conference after the release of the kidnapped Chinese student last February, Interior and Local Government Secretary Jonvic Remulla said the kidnapped student comes from a family of former POGO owners. They also believe that POGO operators – and not Filipino syndicates – were behind the kidnapping.

Just the same, if this is the effect of a forced POGO exit, authorities must continue to clean up that trail. The government must continue to track down the criminals and illegal aliens associated with illegal POGOs.

Online gaming

Sen. Risa Hontiveros has warned that some POGOs have “reinvented” themselves into internet gambling companies. No wonder online gaming has become so big in the country now.

Both the police and the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (PAGCOR) must look into this.

As Senator Hontiveros said, we must not allow these reinvented POGOs to continue operating in the Philippines. Whoever this kidnapping syndicate is, the country’s Filipino-Chinese community is quietly getting jittery over the recent kidnappings, worried who will be next.

Sources in the country’s business circles are saying that there have been other unreported incidents of kidnapping in recent months.

“I heard many unreported kidnappings,” said a Filipino tycoon.

Another source said that Filipino-Chinese families are indeed getting worried and are taking extra precautions in these uncertain times because of the cases of kidnappings.

One Filipino-Chinese family I know recently changed their drivers because they believe that kidnappings are hatched with the help of insiders.

In the early to mid-90s, the Philippines was touted as the kidnapping capital of the world because there were so many kidnap-for-ransom activities at the time, which targeted Filipino-Chinese individuals.

Newspaper reports back then quoted Filipino-Chinese citizens’ groups as saying that families of many of the victims opted to just pay the ransom instead of reporting the crime to authorities.

This could be what’s happening again now, which is why there are no official reports from the police on the recent spate of kidnappings.

Peace and order

Isolated case or not, one kidnap victim is already one victim too many.

It is possible that kidnap-for-ransom activities are indeed back. Authorities must look into this matter with utmost urgency and step up police visibility and law enforcement in the country.

The Marcos administration, however, is too distracted with its breakup with the Dutertes, and is unable to look into pressing concerns hounding our country today, including what seems to be a precarious peace and order situation.

Before we know it, we may also become a gambling republic yet again with POGOs reinventing themselves as online gaming companies.

Filipino-Chinese chamber names new president

For sure, this is one of the issues that industrialist and philanthropist Victor Lim faces as the new president of the Federation of Filipino Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry Inc. (FFCCCII).

Lim was elected following a three-day biennial national convention and three rounds of voting by 800 delegates representing 170 Filipino-Chinese business chambers and organizations in the country.

He succeeds outgoing president Dr. Cecilio Pedro who led FFCCCII’s post-pandemic recovery and digitization initiatives from 2023 to 2025, the group said.

A big salute to Dr. Pedro for a very productive term.

Dr. Pedro is a toothpaste tycoon who has steered the business organization to greater heights, just as he has done with his Lamoiyan Corp., the company behind Hapee toothpaste.

Under his leadership, FFCCCII has become an even more active civic and business group, helping the government with its many activities geared toward nation building. Initiatives the group focused under his leadership were digitalization, education and ease of doing business.

“The transition marks a new chapter for the 71-year-old federation, the Philippines’ largest coalition of Filipino-Chinese entrepreneurs and philanthropists. Aside from progressive business and economic advocacies, FFCCCII spearheads numerous socio-civic and cultural charities,” FFCCCII said.

Lim is president and CEO of VECO Paper Corp. and Everwealth Traders and Development Corp.

He is expected to continue the federation’s numerous business and economic advocacies. Some of its past activities include the donation of over 6,400 rural public school buildings nationwide, the mobilization of post-disaster relief goods throughout the Philippines as well as medical and dental missions for urban poor communities.

*      *      *

Email: eyesgonzales@gmail.com. Follow her on X

@eyesgonzales. Column archives at EyesWideOpen on FB.