Police attache at the Indonesian Embassy in Manila Sr Comr Retno Prihawati (left) talking to Indonesians deported from the Philippines on Oct 22, 2024, at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Cengkareng, Tangerang, Banten. - Kompas.com/Intan Afrida Rafni
JAKARTA: The Philippines has deported 69 Indonesians for their alleged involvement in online gambling and cyber scams, following a major raid at a hotel in Cebu province. The deported individuals are among 539 Indonesians who are allegedly involved in illegal gambling operations.
"They are Indonesian citizens who were deported because they were online gambling and cyber scam workers in the Philippines," the Foreign Ministry’s protection of Indonesian citizens and legal entities director, Judha Nugraha told a press conference in Tangerang, Banten, early on Wednesday (Oct 23), as quoted by Antara.
Judha said that these people were identified following a raid related to an offshore gambling operator case at the Tourist Garden Hotel in Lapu-Lapu City, Cebu province, on Aug 31.
"From the operation carried out by local law enforcement, it was reported that there were 162 cyber scamming workers from various countries, and 69 of them were Indonesian citizens," Judha said.
He noted that of the Indonesian workers, two had been named as suspects in the online gambling crime, four were victim-witnesses and 35 had been identified as perpetrators of online scamming and had been repatriated.
Following this incident, the Philippine government has downgraded the visas for Indonesians involved in the online gambling operations following the raid, police attaché at the Indonesian Embassy in Manila, Sr. Comr. Retno Prihawati, told the press conference.
“Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos has banned online gambling, and he gave the foreign [online gambling] workers from various countries until December to leave the country,” she said.
"This downgrade in visa status applies not only to Indonesian citizens but also to all foreign nationals working in the online gambling sector."
Retno said the offshore gaming operator ban affected a total of 4,179 Indonesians working in online gambling, both legally and illegally.
The National Police’s International Relations Division, Retno said, was actively coordinating with Philippines law enforcement agencies such as the Philippines National Police, the National Bureau of investigation and the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission, to identify Indonesians involved in or working as operators in online gambling.
“Many of our nationals consciously work as online gambling operators in the Philippines,” Retno said.
Meanwhile, Insp. Gen. Krishna Murti, head of National Police’s International Relations Division, said that based on the cooperation, the authorities found 539 Indonesians working as illegal online gambling operators in the Philippines.
“And I want to emphasise that they were not victims of human trafficking. They were perpetrators who consciously offered themselves up to work there,” he told the press conference.
They were also tasked to target people in Indonesia, he added.
Krishna added that the 69 Indonesians were deported in batches. “The first batch involved 35 Indonesians. The first flight arrived using Scoot flight TR 2278, which arrived on Tuesday at 7:10pm. The second group arrived on Cebu Pacific flight 5J759, which arrived at 11:30,” Krishna said, as quoted by Kompas.com.
“On Wednesday, there will be four flights arriving in Jakarta, Medan and Manado.” Krishna added that 32 Indonesians were still waiting for repatriation while two Indonesian suspects would have to follow the judicial process in the Philippines. - The Jakarta Post/ANN
