Most of the kidnapping cases in the country occurred in areas in Metro Manila where most of Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs) and casinos are located, the Philippine National Police-Anti-Kidnapping Group (PNP-AKG) bared on Saturday, Sept. 24.

In a virtual press briefing with the Federation of Filipino Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry Inc. (FFCCCII), PNP-AKG Deputy Director for Operation Col. Ericson D. Dilag said most of the cases recorded by the PNP-AKG are located in the cities of Pasay, Makati, and Parañaque in the National Capital Region (NCR).

“Incidentally, these cities host most of the POGO and casino establishments in the country,” he noted.

Quoting police data, Dilag said majority of the victims from January 2021 to September 2022 are Chinese nationals or a total of 60 out of 83.

Only 18 of the total number of victims are Chinese-Filipino while the remaining are composed of other nationalities.

In the same briefing, Dilag said kidnapping cases in the country are classified into three—POGO(Philippine Offshore Gaming Operates)-related, casino-related, and traditional.

Of the 36 kidnap-for-ransom cases we have recorded in 2021, Dilag said 24 are traditional cases, 12 are POGO related, and no casino-related incident.

He noted that, for this year, out of the 31 recorded kidnapping cases, 13 of which are traditional, one casino-related, and 17 POGO-related incidents.

“As shown in the highlighted months from July to September 2021, we have recorded a total of 13 cases. This translate to a total decrease of four cases as compared to the same period of last year,” said Dilag.

He also reported that there was a decrease of 41 percent in crime solution efficiency and 46 percent in crime clearance efficiency in 2022.

“Why? Of course, cases in 2021 are still being investigated until now so if it happens we happen to have a breakthrough of a certain case that happened in 2021, it will still be recorded for that year,” Dilag explained.

“For this year, one of the reasons why we have low crime clearance efficiency is the uncooperative witnesses or victims or the use of the digital currencies in payment of ransom cases.”