MANILA, Philippines – A foreign student of an international school in the Philippines lost part of his right pinky finger after he was abducted last week in a crime involving Chinese nationals who used to be engaged in now-shuttered offshore gambling operations in the country.
Authorities announced on Wednesday, February 26, that the student of a “prestigious” international school in upscale Bonifacio Global City in Metro Manila was rescued by the Philippine National Police (PNP) Anti-Kidnapping Group (AKG) on Tuesday night after the kidnappers, with the cops closing in on them, decided to leave the child on the middle of a street in Parañaque City.
The child was wearing pajamas and his right hand bandaged when rescued. A local Chinese newspaper in Manila had initially reported the child to be a 14-year-old male Malaysian-Chinese and a senior high school student of a British school in Taguig City. The paper later took down the report and authorities have not confirmed these details. Information from a leaked letter from the school’s principal said the victim was a “senior school student.”
The boy was abducted at 3:45 pm on Thursday, February 20, after his class was dismissed at 2:40 pm and was picked up by the family driver using their Ford Everest SUV. The driver was found dead in another vehicle by authorities a day later or Friday in San Rafael town in Bulacan province, north of Metro Manila.
Police obtained pieces of evidence left in the abandoned vehicle such IDs and mobile phone numbers. These allowed authorities to track the kidnappers using surveillance equipment.
In a press briefing in Malacañang, Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla said a $20-million ransom was initially demanded by the kidnappers who later brought it down to $1 million.
He said that the child’s parents did not give in and that no ransom was paid in the end even though the kidnappers, days after the kidnapping, sent them a video of the child’s right pinky finger being partially severed using scissors.
After the gruesome video was sent, negotiations continued between the kidnappers and the parents who then demanded proof of life. The kidnappers then sent another video of the boy, his right hand heavily bandaged, singing the favorite song of his younger sibling.
Remulla said they suspect that those behind the kidnapping used to be involved in Philippine offshore gaming operators or POGOs which President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., in his State of the Nation Address last year, ordered shut down by end of 2024.
“We suspect na ang biktima ay galing sa pamilya na nag-ooperate ng POGO dati (We suspect that the victim is from a family that used to operate a POGO),” he said.
The kidnappers communicated in Chinese with the parents through the Chinese social media app, WeChat.
“So, this is not a Philippine enterprise. It’s a criminal gang that is an offshoot or remnants of a POGO operation here,” he said.
Asked whether there were other motives, Remulla said: “It’s just money. There’s no revenge. It’s really just a crime syndicate.”
He also revealed that the perpetrators used their former bodyguards who were rogue members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the PNP who had gone on AWOL (absent without leave) and are no longer in service.
Remulla said the President instructed them to go after the members of the kidnapping syndicate so that justice would be served to the family.
He said the AKG team had a choice of rescuing the abandoned victim or going after the kidnappers, and decided to secure the child and bring him to his father.
“Yung bata ay matapang, ‘di siya umiiyak, masayang nakita ang kanyang magulang (The child is brave, he/she was not crying and was happy upon seeing his/her parents),” Remulla, who did not disclose whether the child was a boy or girl, said.
Police officials said the syndicate was also involved in previous kidnap cases involving mainly Chinese and had operated in central and northern Luzon.
Senator Win Gatchalian, who has been involved in probing POGOs along with Senator Risa Hontiveros, said the incident was “a loud wake-up call for schools to tighten security and protect our learners at all costs.”
He reiterated his call for the “critical and urgent need to wipe out POGOs once and for all.”
“Communities, parents, and local government units must unite to ensure that no child falls victim to these crimes ever again….We cannot and must not allow their criminal operations to continue spreading fear, lawlessness, and danger in our communities,” he said.
Family driver involved?
In an interview with GMA News, Chinese-Filipino civic leader and anti-crime fighter Teresita Ang-See expressed shock over the “very sadistic type of kidnapping.”
“It’s a very inhumane way of treating the victim and we have never encountered that before,” See, founder of the Movement for the Restoration of Peace and Order, said.
She also said that the victim’s family driver used to work in a big POGO business in Clark, and that the driver had been with the boy’s family for only a month.
She alleged it was the driver who gave information to the suspected syndicate so that they would be able to kidnap the boy.
Lucrative livelihood
See said kidnapping cases were on the rise following the shutting down of POGOs, and that most of the perpetrators are still the Chinese syndicates.
See lamented that government has been caught “flat-footed” after ordering the shutdown of POGOs.
“Hindi sila (They’re not) prepared what to do. Mga Filipino drivers are without jobs. [It’s] Not just the Chinese [who] are without jobs,” See said.
Police Colonel Elmer Ragay, director of the PNP AKG, said in the Palace briefing there were 32 kidnapping incidents last year with a solution rate of 25%. There have been 8 kidnapping incidents so far in 2025, five of which have been solved.
Remulla attributed the new kidnapping cases to the closure of POGO operations which deprived syndicates of a “lucrative” livelihood.
– Rappler.com