Out of the 22 syndicate members involved in the kidnapping of a Chinese student in Taguig City, 18 were identified as former uniformed personnel of the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), according to Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Jonvic Remulla.

“We are certain that there are 22 members of the syndicate, four of them the leaders are Mainland Chinese, 18 of them are their former bodyguards and former henchmen,” Remulla said in a televised interview Thursday.

Based on their investigation, the parents of the suspect held a license for a Philippine offshore gaming operator (POGO), and the perpetrator was a notorious operator from 2017 to 2022.

Remulla said the kidnapping incident is “the consequence of really the culture that POGO brought to the [Philippines],” adding that his family regrets having sold a property to a POGO operator, which has since been closed.

“The culture that POGO brought to the country was that of extreme perfidy and extreme pathological behavior, that they had no conscience of what they were doing, and it spilled down to their bodyguards because they were earning a big amount,” the DILG chief added.

According to him, if the former uniformed personnel had a base pay of P50,000, they were earning P200,000 a month. “That is the effect of the policy of the previous administration of bringing in all the POGOs here,” Remulla lamented.

Asking for ransom

Remulla said the kidnappers initially demanded $20 million.

“The mother became very hysterical and very confrontational with the kidnappers, as you would expect, and she became very agitated with the situation and she was denying that she had any of those monies. When it came to a point that she was not cooperative, that was when, on a Saturday night, they showed the video of the tip of the finger being cut off,” he said.

On Sunday night, authorities had a proof-of-life video where the victim was asked to sing the favorite song of his younger sister. The victim sang and seemed to be in good health, Remulla said. Since then, authorities had signal intercepts and were “fairly certain” of how the suspects were moving and where they were headed.

“These people are barbaric. They crossed the line of being human already. They’ve lost all conscience, they are psychopaths. They will do anything to gain an advantage. That’s why we acted with quick haste, and our men in the AKG and the NCRPO should be commended because they were diligently working non-stop for 72 hours before we rescued the boy,” Remulla said.

PNP rescues student

The PNP on Tuesday rescued the victim — a senior high school student at the British School Manila — along Macapagal Avenue in Parañaque City.

The student had been reported missing since 20 February, along with the family driver, who was found dead in an abandoned vehicle.

There was no ransom paid, according to the PNP, though the kidnappers’ motive was money, not revenge, as per Remulla.