PNP: Only 27 abductions since Jan.

The Philippine National Police has dismissed the claim made by the Philippine Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry that there had been 56 incidents of kidnapping in the last 10 days.

Citing its own data, the PNP said there were only 27 kidnapping cases since January. According to PNP spokesperson Col. Jean Fajardo, the PCCI has not shown any evidence to support its claim.

Of the total 27 cases, Fajardo said 11 were already "solved" or that charges were already filed and the suspects already arrested. Four had been classified as "cleared" which meant charges had been filed but the suspects have remained at large.

On the other hand, 12 of the cases are still under investigation. Of the solved cases, seven were connected to Philippine offshore gaming operations or POGO, three were traditional kidnap-for-ransom incidents and one was casino-related, the PNP official said.

"For this year, they recorded 27 and many of these cases were POGO-related," said Fajardo during a press briefing the other day at Camp Crame. She added there were 15 POGO-related kidnapping incidents recorded since January.

She explained the cases were usually due to the failure of the victims to pay their debts, thus they were abducted by fellow POGO workers to force them to pay.

Fajardo said officials of the PNP Anti-Kidnapping Task Force met with PCCI officials on Tuesday to clarify the numbers.

During the meeting, Fajardo said PCCI officials failed to substantiate their claim about the 56 kidnapping cases. "They said someone reported to them these incidents," said Fajardo.

"When the PNP-AKG showed them the data, they (PCCI officials) were enlightened that for 2022, the record is 27 kidnapping cases," Fajardo said.

The PCCI revealed the information about the 56 kidnapping cases during a press conference at the House of Representatives last Tuesday.