Sen. Win Gatchalian Senate (Public Relations and Information Bureau)
MANILA, Philippines 鈥� Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian on Friday said the recent raid on a travel agency allegedly involved in issuing 鈥渜uestionable but genuine鈥� Philippine government documents to foreign nationals raises suspicions that criminal syndicates may have already infiltrated government agencies.
According to Gatchalian, the agencies that might have been infiltrated include the Philippine Statistics Authority, Bureau of Immigration, Department of Foreign Affairs, and the Philippine National Police.
鈥淚t is undeniable that this scheme enables Philippine offshore gaming operators, especially after we learned that one complainant paid P900,000 to this company to free her fianc茅 and another paid P1.1 million for her husband鈥檚 release after a raid in Para帽aque,鈥� said Gatchalian.
According to the senator, the raid likewise highlights the need to grant the PSA 鈥済reater authority to prevent the issuance of fraudulent birth registrations and to penalize civil registrars who facilitate such fake documents.鈥�
鈥淟aw enforcement agencies must continue their commendable efforts to dismantle these syndicates鈥� illegal operations, as they may be enabling the continued stay of Pogo remnants in the country,鈥� he added.
President Ferdinand Marcos, during his third State of the Nation Address in July,
He then subsequently ordered Pagcor to wind down and seize the operations of these firms by the end of 2024.
But since Marcos ordered the ban, reports came in that to various ways on how they can conceal their operations. Some even pretend to be business process outsourcing (BPO) firms.