Earlier this week, the Philippines authorities rescued victims who were allegedly trafficked into the country to work at an online casino.
Of those rescued, at least four are reportedly Singaporeans.
Source: Rappler on YouTube
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) has since verified these individuals.
Additionally, the ministry is also providing consular assistance to the affected Singaporeans.
Channel NewsAsia reported that the Philippines police conducted the raid on Monday (26 June) night.
They raided buildings located in southern Manila and detained over 2,700 people.
Source: Rappler on YouTube
A separate report on Tuesday (27 June) noted that the authorities were still trying to distinguish between the victims and suspects involved in the scheme.
The victims had come across job postings on Facebook and accepted offers to work in the Philippines “to find players” for online games.
However, upon arriving in the country, many of them had to work daily 12-hour shifts.
To make things worse, they were compensated as little as just 24,000 pesos (S$588) per month.
Meanwhile, The Straits Times (ST) reported that the victims had accepted jobs on Facebook to work in the Philippines as “assistants in online gaming”.
Source: Rappler on YouTube
CNA also reported that the victim’s movements were also restricted as they were not allowed to leave the compound where they were housed in.
About half of those detained were Filipino nationals. The remaining foreigners were mostly from countries such as:
Most notably, four Singaporeans were reportedly among the victims rescued.
In response to CNA’s queries, an MFA spokesperson said they’ve identified four Singaporean victims thus far.
They added that the Singapore Embassy in Manila is currently providing consular assistance to the affected Singaporeans.
The spokesperson also took the opportunity to thank their Filipino counterparts for the rescue operation.
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Featured image adapted from Rappler on YouTube and Philstar.
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