{"id":100796,"date":"2019-03-18T11:27:07","date_gmt":"2019-03-18T18:27:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=100796"},"modified":"2019-03-18T11:27:07","modified_gmt":"2019-03-18T18:27:07","slug":"philippine-senator-leila-de-lima-speaks-out-against-casino-kidnappings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/philippine-senator-leila-de-lima-speaks-out-against-casino-kidnappings\/","title":{"rendered":"Imprisoned Philippine Senator Speaks Out Against Chinese Casino Kidnappings"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Philippine casino sector is thriving and so is Chinese tourism — facilitated by closer relations between the two countries, fostered by President Rodrigo Duterte\u2019s pro-China policy after years of squabbling over disputed territories in the South China Sea.<\/p>\n

\"Leila
Philippine Senator Leila de Lima was imprisoned in 2017 on drugs charges after calling President Rodrigo Duterte a \u201cserial killer.\u201d She has called for the government to do more to combat the problem of Chinese kidnappings linked to the nation\u2019s casinos. (Inquirer)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

But opposition politicians want the Duterte administration to do more to combat a worrying trend of a casino industry fueled by Chinese visitation: the explosion of kidnappings<\/a> in and around casinos.<\/p>\n

The Philippine Daily Inquirer<\/em> reports that, on Monday, opposition senator Leila de Lima urged the government to tackle the problem of kidnappings, which are usually conducted by ethnic Chinese on ethnic Chinese and linked to loansharking.<\/p>\n

Prisoner of Conscience<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The anti-crime watchdog, Movement for Restoration of Peace and Order (MRPO), has documented 23 victims since the beginning of 2018, and eight victims in January to February this year alone — an average of two victims a month.<\/p>\n

Since casino-related kidnapping is fast becoming a lucrative business that remains unchecked, the government must show that it is exerting all efforts to reduce the cases of, if not eradicating, casino-related kidnappings and hold loan shark syndicates accountable for their crimes,\u201d De Lima said in a statement.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cLikewise, appropriate criminal cases should be filed against the suspects because … we don\u2019t want more gamblers to be held against their will, and, second, we don\u2019t want more records of crimes in a country where impunity reigns,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

De Lima released her statement from detention center Camp Crame, where she has resided since February 2017.<\/p>\n

A vocal critic of the Duterte administration and the extrajudicial killings linked to the president\u2019s war on drugs, she was arrested on charges of having ties to the drugs trade during her tenure as Philippine Secretary of Justice, from 2010 to 2015. She has been designated a \u201cprisoner of conscience\u201d by numerous human rights organizations.<\/p>\n

Underground Banking Networks<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Restrictions on the outflow of capital from mainland China have fueled an underground banking industry controlled by organized crime, not just in the Philippines but in numerous countries<\/a> across the world.<\/p>\n

With strict limits on how much cash they can take out of China, Chinese tourists are targets for loan sharks who turn nasty when their clients cannot pay up. Victims are often tortured in order to extort relatives to wire money to the kidnappers.<\/p>\n

\n

Just last week, seven Chinese national were arrested by the country\u2019s National Bureau of Investigation for allegedly kidnapping a fellow countryman from a gaming facility in Paranaque City.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Sometimes, kidnappings turn deadly. In February 2017, the body of a kidnap victim was pulled from a creek in General Trias City.<\/p>\n

Despite her confinement, de Lima remains an incumbent Senator of the Philippines, and last year filed a bill, SR 953, that aims to tighten regulations for the country\u2019s gambling industry.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn SR 953, which I filed last year, I\u2019ve mentioned that the country\u2019s loose regulatory policies to monitor casino establishments make the Philippines more susceptible to other crimes and illegal activities that are not limited to kidnapping, including money laundering and fraud,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Philippine casino sector is thriving and so is Chinese tourism — facilitated by closer relations between the two countries, fostered by President Rodrigo Duterte\u2019s pro-China policy after years of squabbling over disputed territories in the South China Sea. But opposition politicians want the Duterte administration to do more to combat a worrying trend of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":100797,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,18,61],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nPhilippine Senator Leila de Lima Speaks Out Against Casino Kidnappings<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Philippine Senator Leila de Lima says the government of President Rodrigo Duterte must do more to tackle casino kidnappings. 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