BY GEROME DALIPE IV
ILOILO City – Mayor Jerry Treñas challenged agents of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) in Western Visayas to arrest Chinese nationals engaged in illegal activities in the city.
“If something illegal is being done, it is incumbent upon the NBI to arrest them. Ano pa ang ginahulat?” said Treñas during his press briefing yesterday.
The mayor issued the challenge when sought for his comment on the confirmation of the NBI Region 6 that several Chinese nationals were involved in various illegal activities in Iloilo City, as disclosed by Cong. Julienne Baronda.
“As a city (mayor), (if) may mabal-an ko ilegal, padakop ko. It is the responsibility of the NBI to arrest them. If you do not arrest them, that means you condone them. We do not condone anything illegal here,” stressed Treñas.
Baronda disclosed that officials of NBI-6 went to her office and confirmed the illegal activities of Chinese nationals, including online gambling, among others.
Treñas said the Iloilo City Police Office is in talks with the NBI-6 regarding their next move.
“We are preparing something, but we don’t want to telegraph our actions,” the mayor said.
The mayor also suggested that the Department of Justice and the Bureau of Immigration should coordinate to unmask illegal aliens in the city.
“We do not condone illegal activities, whether you are a businessman or what,” said Treñas.
Just last week, July 24, the 4th Special Operations Unit (SOU) of the Philippine National Police’s Maritime Group seized over P5 million worth of smuggled cigarettes in two related raids in Barangay Obrero, Lapuz and Barangay Lopez Jaena Sur, La Paz district.
The operation in Obrero, which yielded several boxes of fake cigarettes, led to the subsequent raid of a house in Lopez Jaena Sur owned by a Chinese national. This second raid recovered approximately P4.8 million worth of smuggled cigarettes.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) has also been asked to investigate the reported proliferation of Chinese nationals lurking in posh subdivisions in Iloilo City.
In her letter to DOJ Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla dated July 2, Baronda voiced concerns about the influx of Chinese nationals in some parts of Iloilo City, including Puerto Real de Iloilo in La Paz, Monterosa Subdivision in Mandurriao, and Ledesco Subdivision also in La Paz.
November last year, the Iloilo City Police Office arrested 17 male Chinese nationals suspected of operating a cybersex den in Lawaan Village, a residential subdivision in Barangay Balantang, Jaro district.
The suspects, all of legal age, reportedly facilitated illicit activities for Filipino and foreign cybersex clients.
For his part, Treñas recently issued an executive order that provides guidelines on enhanced and stricter monitoring and collaboration with the City Hall departments and the police to address issues related to POGOs or Philippine offshore gaming operations.
Executive Order No. 094 declares the city’s policy on illegal POGOs and urges the police, the City Treasurer’s Office, the Local Economic Development and Investment Promotion Office, and the City Local Economic Enterprise Office (LEEO) to “utilize their powers under the law to investigate any suspected POGO establishments within the city.”
“This investigation shall include establishment illegally of POGOs without the required regulatory requirements, and establishments operating illegally as POGOs but registered as operating under a different line of business,” read Treñas’ executive order.
He issued the executive order following the ongoing investigation by the Iloilo City Council into the proliferation of undocumented immigrants, particularly the reported unregulated activities of Chinese-led POGOs in the city.
The council, convening as a Committee of the Whole, is investigating “in aid of legislation” on the reported illegal activities of foreign nationals in the city.
These supposed illicit activities include unregulated gambling, human trafficking, and other similar illegal activities linked to Chinese-operated POGOs.
The probe was an offshoot of the reports received by local legislators that these undocumented aliens are even involved in various illegal activities in the metropolis.
The city councilors said they received reports that in some posh subdivisions, most of the occupants are Chinese or foreigners.
Congresswoman Baronda claimed the Chinese nationals reportedly purchased houses worth between P30 million and P50 million and owned luxury vehicles.
The lawmaker appealed to Remulla to instruct his men at the NBI and the Bureau of Immigration (BI) to determine whether or not these individuals are engaged in illegal activities./PN
