SEN. Grace Poe, keen to dig deeper into two anomalies, filed a resolution to investigate reported human trafficking and cyber fraud operations at the Clark Sun Valley Hub Corporation in Pampanga.
Poe, the presiding chairperson of the Senate Committee on Public Services, stressed probers “need to uncover the true scale and roots of human trafficking in the country.”
“This is an insidious crime that must stop,” the senator vowed as she filed Senate Resolution No. 595, citing a raided firm operating inside Clark Freeport Zone, resulting in the rescue of 1,048 alleged human trafficking victims of different Asian nationalities, including Filipinos.
Poe noted the rescued workers were reportedly forced to engage in cyber fraud involving cryptocurrency.
“There is an urgent need to determine the supposed existence and cease the operations of these ‘scam hubs’ in the country for the protection of our citizens and foreign nationals that are being victimized by this kind of human trafficking scheme,” she added.
At the same time, the senator reminded, “The Bureau of Immigration must explain the presence of the foreign workers and show what kind of visas they hold.”
Poe also affirmed “the need for other law enforcement agencies, such as the Philippine National Police, National Bureau of Investigation, Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission, and the Inter-Agency Council on Anti- Trafficking to intensify their operations against human trafficking of foreign nationals into the country.”
Moreover, the senator recalled the April 19, 2023 hearing of the Senate Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations, and Gender Equality which uncovered the existence of scam hubs in the Philippines that engage in cyber fraud operations and traffic foreign workers into the country.
In addition, he noted that the inquiry also uncovered “these scam hubs and the operations of Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators in the country have some similarities in their schemes,” suggesting “that could be simply just one operation that is happening underneath many operations.”
“Our inquiry sends the message to traffickers that this crime won’t be tolerated and will be dealt with the full force of the law,” Poe vowed. -30-