EDITORIAL — From POGOs to something else

Not too long ago we cautioned that POGO operations here, those that were not quite dismantled by the time the deadline set by President Bongbong Marcos rolled by, might venture into other kinds of criminal enterprise entirely.

This may now be the case with the recent incidents of kidnapping for ransom in Metro Manila.

Just recently, some senators linked the kidnapping of a foreign student from an international school to the continued presence of POGOs here.

"I reiterate my call for the critical and urgent need to wipe out POGOs once and for all. We cannot and must not allow their criminal operations to continue spreading fear, lawlessness, and danger in our communities," said Senator Sherwin Gatchalian.

Meanwhile, the police aren’t totally discounting that the kidnapping of Filipino-Chinese businessman Anson Que, who was found dead along with his driver after being abducted, may have been done by a group that used to operate a POGO.

“There’s a big twist, but we can’t say anything more. After we finish the investigation and file the case, that’s when we can discuss,” was all PNP chief Francisco Marbil would say for now regarding the case.

It seems like some kind of twisted logical progression. If some POGO operators can no longer fleece people of their money through wile and deception, they can move on to getting their money by force and intimidation.

But it gets worse, when before such criminals could only target a specific group of people with their love and financial scams, now nothing is off-limits when it comes to kidnapping for ransom, as long as that person or that person’s family can afford to pay handsomely.

Needless to say, the authorities must do everything they can to go after these criminal enterprises, no matter what form they have morphed into now and no matter where they are hiding.

As with before, some questions we keep asking still persist. How are such groups still able to operate here? Are there people in powerful positions protecting them or gaining alongside their operations?