BOTH the Philippines and China have agreed to step-up their cooperation and partnership in the areas of transnational crimes, cross-border gambling, kidnapping and telecommunications fraud.
In a statement released by the Chinese Embassy in Manila on September 28, 2021 and disseminated by ‘Xinhua,’ China’s official newswire service, Philippine National Police (PNP) director general, P/Gen. Guillermo Tolentino Eleazar, recently held a video conference with Wang Xiaohong, executive vice minister of China’s Ministry of Public Security (MPS).
“The two sides agreed to further deepen mutual trust and cooperation in jointly cracking down on cross-border gambling, telecom and internet fraud, kidnapping, robbery, homicide, and other illegal and criminal activities,” the Chinese Embassy said, adding both sides also agreed to enhance further “technical cooperation in drug control, counter-terrorism, and law enforcement capacity building.”
Other Philippine mainstream media reported that in the course of the meeting, Eleazar and Wang “expressed their concerns that there have been [an] increasing number of kidnapping cases against Chinese nationals recently in the Philippines.”
Most of the kidnapping incidents involved Chinese nationals themselves and related to the gambling debts arising from the operation of POGOs (Philippine Offshore Gaming Operation).
The PNP’s Anti-Kidnapping Group (PNP-AKG), noted that kidnappings and other crimes involving Chinese nationals have been on the rise since 2017.
These crimes have not waned despite the country still battling the COVID-19 pandemic.
For its part, the Chinese Embassy noted that China strongly opposes all forms of gambling as it affects a country’s ‘normal’ financial order and economic security.
This is aside from the other related “vicious crimes it can cause that seriously endanger legitimate property and personal rights.
The Chinese Embassy further reported that both the PNP and the MPS agreed to “strengthen” their cooperation in clues investigation, information sharing, and case transfer and to strengthen joint efforts to crack down on such crimes.”
It was also reported that Eleazar and Wang further agreed to intensify their coordination and improve the “mutual trust” between Chinese and Philippine authorities as they tackle the problem of kidnapping and other transnational crimes, such as drug trafficking, gambling and online scams.