Philippines vows ‘no mercy’ against suspects in murder of Chinese nationals
- Justice chief Jesus Crispin Remulla has urged prosecutors to file an ‘airtight’ case against the three suspects, who face multiple charges including kidnapping and homicide
- Four of the victims died of suffocation while two others are still missing, police say, adding that the lack of a ransom is ‘unusual’ in cases involving Chinese captives
The Philippines has vowed to pursue a watertight case against the suspects in the killing of six Chinese nationals who were abducted from their home in a luxury residential enclave in Metro Manila last year.
The Department of Justice said Edgar Catapang Abarca, Eduardo Catapang Abarca and John Oliver Villanueva would be indicted on multiple charges including kidnapping and homicide.
Last October, the men barged into the victims’ house that also included three of their local employees in Muntinlupa City and blindfolded the occupants before bundling them into a getaway van.
The perpetrators freed the Filipinos a day after the incident and ordered them not to reveal it to police, but they eventually reported the kidnapping to the authorities, sparking a law enforcement blitz.
Police arrested the suspects with the help of CCTV footage and have since recovered the bodies of the four Chinese on Luzon island while two others – a woman and her child – are still missing.
Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla pledged to bring the suspects to justice, calling on prosecutors to file an “airtight” case against the trio.
“Show no mercy in prosecuting those behind these senseless crimes,” Remulla said.
Cosme Abrenica, who heads the anti-kidnapping wing of the national police, said the two men and two women died of suffocation.
“We did not find any wounds, either from gunshot or stabbing, from the victims. From our investigation, they were likely killed by covering their faces or they were choked,” Abrenica told local media last November.
He added the suspects did not demand a ransom, which was “unusual” in cases involving Chinese captives.
Abrenica also said 20 kidnappings were reported to his department in the first 10 months of 2023, the Philippine Daily Inquirer reported.
Most of the abductions of Chinese nationals in the past were linked to Philippine offshore gambling operators (Pogos), where they had been employed.
The sector emerged in the Southeast Asian nation in 2016 and grew exponentially, as companies capitalised on Manila’s liberal gaming laws to target customers in China, where gambling is banned.
At their peak, Pogos had more than 300,000 Chinese workers, but the pandemic, higher taxes and government crackdown have forced many to operate elsewhere.
Beijing has repeatedly warned Chinese nationals not to work in Pogos in the Philippines, which have brought a spate of crime, including cryptocurrency scam, kidnapping and murder.
The Philippines in 2022 stopped the operations of 175 Pogos and deported about 40,000 Chinese workers as part of efforts to rein in the industry, which delivers 190 billion pesos (US$3.2 billion) to the economy each year.
