THE Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) announced the further deportation of 91 Chinese nationals previously caught engaging in illegal activities that also resulted to the substantial reduction of the number of foreign nationals under its custody.
PAOCC Executive Director Undersecretary Gilbert Cruz said the deportation procedure last September 19 was conducted in coordination with the Bureau of Immigration (BI) and the Chinese Embassy.
Cruz said of the number, 89 individuals were involved in illegal offshore gaming and fraud while two others were apprehended for illegal mining.
He added 12 others had to be offloaded due to a lack of implementation order from the BI and escorted back to the PAOCC Custodial Facility in Pasay City.
Their deportation, Cruz added, would push ahead once the requirements are completed.
The deportees boarded Philippine Airlines Flight PR336, which departed the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 1 at 10:40 a.m., bound for Shanghai, China.
The deportees were arrested during the government’s anti-crime operations all over the country under the supervision of the PAOCC focused on organized criminal activities related to offshore gaming (POGO).
During his State of the Nation Address (SONA) in July 2024, President Marcos Jr. ordered the closure of all POGO activities by the end of the year.
Cruz said the deportees were nabbed at POGO hubs in Pasay City, Parañaque City; Biñan, Laguna; Lapu-Lapu City, Cebu; Porac and Mabalacat in Pampanga; and Bamban, Tarlac.
In December 2024, the PAOCC also supervised the deportation of 187 Chinese nationals who were returned to the mainland also via Shanghai.
The latest round of deportation helped decongest further the PAOCC detention facility in Pasay City that at one time is host to nearly 1,000 foreign nationals, majority of them Chinese.
“This operation is part of the government’s intensified effort to remove foreign nationals involved in illegal activities, following President Marcos Jr.’s directive to ban POGOs and put an end to organized crime,” Cruz said.
Cruz also lauded Executive Secretary and PAOCC Chairman Lucas P. Bersamin, for taking steps to hasten the deportation process, noting this shows the administration’s commitment not only to face organized crime head-on, but also to protect the public.
“Foreign nationals who engage in illegal activities have no place in the Philippines. We will pursue them, and we will dismantle their networks,” Cruz said.
‘The PAOCC, with its partner agencies and international counterparts, strikes directly at the roots of these criminal syndicates, ensuring they cannot return,” he added.