A KOREAN COMMUNITY IN THE DRUG WAR
by Alysha Nacino, Sandra Sendingan
His friends had asked him if he was still going to push through with his decision to study in the Philippines. It was too far away from Korea, they said. There were killings sanctioned by the government, they said. But he persisted.
Dae Hyok-Lee, 24, a South Korean exchange student from the University of the Philippines, came to the Philippines just in time for the new President to be elected into the most powerful position in the nation.Little did he know that his arrival marked the start of an internal “war” in the country, that would catch the attention of the rest of the world.
Lee admitted that he could not help but worry for his safety after hearing news of deaths following the anti-drug operations in the past 7 months of his stay in the Philippines .
“I’m a little afraid because I could be a victim,” Lee said. “When [sic] I’m living in Korea, I did not see much about drug problems so I didn’t even notice that much about drug problems. But in here [Philippines], it’s very inhumanity sometimes. Inhuman. They just kill. There’s a lot of set-up crimes.”
The Aftermath of the Jee-Ick Joo Case
One of these cases that created a buzz involves a South Korean businessman named Jee Ick Joo, who was abducted from his home in Friendship Plaza, Angeles City, Pampanga in October 18 of last year and killed in Camp Crame by policemen under the guise of the administration’s flagship anti-drug operation, Oplan Tokhang.
Jee is considered a prominent businessman in Angeles City, known for his work as a former executive for the Korean shipbuilding company Hanjin (HHIC Phil) that employed thousands of Filipino and Korean workers in Pampanga before venturing out to start his own business. Residents in the area also recognized Jee as a friend to Angeles City mayor Edgardo Pamintuan.
The news of Jee’s death shocked the Korean community in the Philippines, among them Bae Kyungmin, 35, a South Korean linguistics professor from the University of the Philippines, who has lived in the country for more than seven years.
This case is just so unacceptable because Koreans living in the Philippines are doing things for the community as well suddenly one of the fellow Koreans is just innocently killed.
Bae Kyung-Min on the kidnap and muder case of fellow Korean Jee Ick Joo
“This case is just so unacceptable because they [Koreans] thought they are living in the Philippines, doing their business and doing things for the community as well, suddenly one of the fellow Koreans is just innocently killed. This reality is kind of unacceptable,” she said.
But what surprised her more was President Duterte’s declaration of war against illegal drugs because for her, the use of drugs was never the main problem in the country since it was only symptomatic of a graver and more entrenched social problem.
“I always see any problem in the Philippines is really about education,” she said, “What I see about this phenomenon is some people in the Philippines is poor. They are poor because they are not educated. They are not educated, they’re jobless. They’re jobless so they need something to do. They need something to do, they have drugs. They can sell it and they can eat.”
Bae, having married a Filipino during her time in the Philippines, admitted she did not feel too threatened to wish to go back to South Korea after reports of Jee’s death. This was also the case with some Koreans she knows, who have lived in the Philippines for a long time.
“I don’t think it really affects Koreans that they want to go back. Because if they have lived here for 20 or 30 years, they really take it as their home,” she said.
“I don’t really portray myself in crime scene. Of course I don’t want to be victimized by anyone. But sometimes, I just also tell myself ‘just be cautious extra’. Because I’m not Filipino,” she added.
Recently, Bae’s parents back in South Korea have been telling her that the Philippines have been appearing more often in Korean news ever since President Duterte was elected, but her parents believe that it was not too dangerous in the Philippines for Bae to return to South Korea.
“The current case is a big deal in Korea, but if you simply see how many Koreans are coming to the Philippines every day, you will be surprised because the airplanes are full with so many Koreans--usually tourists or returning residents,” she said.
The attraction between Koreans and the Philippines
In addition to the strong bilateral relations between the Philippines and South Korea that traces its roots to the Korean war, the wave of Korean migration into the country has been exponentially growing for the past two decades with latest data from the Department of Tourism showing that Korean tourists compose the top spending market in the Philippines, amounting to almost seven billion pesos in spending receipts.
Students like Lee, compose one of the largest Korean demographics in the Philippines who come to the country to increase their proficiency in English given the lower cost of living compared to Korea as well as the country’s positive reputation of fluency in the language of globalization.
Some Koreans choose the Philippines as a place where they could retire, seeing as how they find the weather agreeable, the people friendly and warm, and the country full of interesting places to go sight-seeing. The lower cost of living also allows the retirees to maximize the pension they receive from their previous work.
Korean businessmen like Jee also find the Philippines as a good place to set up their business due to the lowered taxes and the incentives for foreign investors within the country. The labor is also cheaper compared to that in their country. And with their savings, they are able to do more for their business here in the Philippines due to their higher currency rate, where, if converted to peso, would increase its value.
A GLIMPSE OF KOREA IN PH. A smattering of establishments from samgyeopsal restaurants to Korean services centers line the road of Friendship Highway in Angeles City, Pampanga where an estimated 10 000 Korean residents have made their home.
Angeles City and Clark Freeport, second home for Koreans
According to Florian David, a Kapampangan who has lived in Angeles City for 20 years, the influx of Korean residents, businessmen and tourists became more visible in Pampanga after the Mount Pinatubo eruption in 1991. Five years after the cataclysmic disaster, the residents of Angeles City started to notice how the Koreans started forming their own community along Fil-Am Friendship Highway. In the early 2000s, Fil-Am Friendship Highway became colloquially known as “Koreatown” in Pampanga, providing for the needs of the region’s Korean demographic from food to education to accommodation and entertainment. The long stretch of Friendship Highway is also heavily manned by CCTV cameras installed through the initiative of the Korean Community Association.
The increase of the Korean population in Angeles City can be traced to the reopening of Clark, formerly a US Military Base Zone, into a Special Economic Zone in 1993, after the lahar and the destruction left by the Mt. Pinatubo eruption were cleared. At that time, former President Fidel V. Ramos declared his intent to turn Clark’s Diosdado Macapagal Airport, now known as Clark International Airport, into another international gateway due to its strategic location to urban centers and freeports and since NAIA was exceeding its capacity as the country’s main airport.
This also becomes the main attraction of Angeles City for many Korean businessmen and investors. Most Koreans find the location convenient since Angeles City is beside Clark, making travelling to and fro South Korea easier by avoiding the heavy traffic found on the way to the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) in Pasay.
Angeles City and Clark also serve as hubs for international companies and businesses. Since Clark was previously a US military base, it has modern infrastructure facilities, generous fiscal and non-fiscal incentives for businesses, and other amenities. And now, considered as a Freeport, investors in Clark are entitled to tax-free and other duty-free privileges. Angeles City, on the other hand, has become a hotspot for tourists, foreign businessmen and American ex-militarymen, offering wide range of hotels, restaurants, resorts, casinos and residences. Thus, Korean businessmen see the location as an ideal place to set up their own shops.
In the freeport alone, there are 96 registered Korean companies according to the Clark Development Corporation.
Drugs and Crime in Angeles City
The crime rate in Angeles is relatively average compared to the other municipalities within Pampanga. Just last year, Angeles City was lauded for the drastic drop in its crime rates. There was a 46% decrease in their crime rates, with robbery cases having the largest drop among other crimes. However, robbery was only the third most committed offense in the area. The first is physical injury, which had a 25% decrease in its rate, followed by theft, which had 48% drop. Other crimes included cases of carnapping and rape.
Despite the decline in other criminal activities, data from the Philippine National Police annual report for 2016 paints a grim picture about the drug incidence in the region: out of the 11 dismantled shabu laboratories or warehouses by police anti-drug operations from January to November 2016, four were found in Pampanga, yielding illegal drugs and drug paraphernalia worth almost P1.622 billion in street value.
Residents in the area are well aware of the gravity of the drug menace within their community.
“[The drug menace remains a] big problem,” David said when asked about his opinion regarding the gravity and scope of the drug incidence in Angeles City. “[This] urgently needs to [be] addressed]not only in the city of Angeles but even in nearby towns or barangays of Magalang, Mabalacat and neighboring towns...but not on the way as the authorities are doing now.”
But despite this and the Jee Ick-Joo case, David and the Korean residents still consider Angeles City as a safe place for Filipinos and Koreans to live and conduct business in.
"Different world naman ang iniikutan nila. Palagi lang paalala sa mga bata na mag-ingat," David added.
Koreans as possible victims of crimes
The growing number of Korean communities in the country, however, make them vulnerable to crime as data from the Philippine National Police show that there have been 59 slay incidents of Korean nationals from 2009 to 2016.
Screenshot from PNP 2016 Annual Report
“Anytime [a] Korean is killed abroad, it’s [in] the Philippines. So you watch the news, oh Philippines again? Oh, again and again. So I even try to check out some news, like what about in other countries? What about in Mexico? What about Brazil? I try to search for news but it’s really the Philippines where most Koreans are killed,” Bae said while acknowledging how Koreans have already been victims of crimes even before the drug war.
Following the reported kidnap-and-slay case of Jee Ick Joo, South Korean ambassador Kim Jae-Shin expressed alarm over the growing number of Korean nationals that fall victim to crime, citing that there have been 20 reported incidents of slain Koreans around the world and that half of them occur in the Philippines.
This concern was echoed by Bae who, even after her seven years in the country, feels as if the institutions tasked to protect their welfare as foreign nationals are not up to the task.
“Some Koreans don’t really feel safe because they are not really protected by either embassy or the Philippine government. So I think this is the sentiment of some Koreans. There must be many more harassment case[s] which we don’t know,” Bae added.
Another incident in Angeles City where cops are involved in a criminal case against the Koreans is the recently reported harassment case filed by Korean nationals against Pampanga cops last January. The seven implicated cops from Angeles City Station 5 who allegedly took the tourists’ jewelry, golf clubs, and P150 000 cash, have since been relieved from duty, however the seeming pattern of police involvement in criminal activities continues to be a source of worry for international communities residing in the Philippines.
“But this time, of course we have to see until the end, we really see PNP officers were related - who are supposed to protect Filipinos as well as foreigners. That’s the biggest difference,” she added.
This growing alarm prompted the Department of Interior and Local Government to put in place community-based mechanisms designed to safeguard the welfare of Korean nationals living in the Philippines. These community-based mechanisms are projects or efforts from the local community to protect the people living in it. The recently implemented mechanisms will hopefully assist Korean nationals in developing their own local safety plans that will be linked to the larger community’s local reporting and protection systems.
Following Jee’s slay, the local government of Pampanga has signed an executive order for the establishment of the Korean Assistance Office in Pampanga (KAOP) which aims to provide a centralized body that will streamline all concerns and complaints from any Korean resident in Pampanga. The KAOP will be chaired by Vice Governor Dennis Pineda and will be established along Koreatown in Friendship Highway, Angeles where the Korean population is at its densest.
The Korean National Police Agency also plans to set up another three to seven Korean police help desks in the country in addition to the existing seven desks set up in the cities of Angeles, Boracay, Cebu, Davao, Subic and Baguio. Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa also gave hotline numbers for reporting police abuses on Koreans - 0998 970 2286 and 0995 795 2569.
While Duterte has since apologized to the Korean community and vowed to hold the suspected officers accountable, Lee expresses slight disappointment with the slow resolution of Jee’s case and lack of available mechanisms for redress.
“I’m not sure but is there another remedy for protect[ion] from this kind of case? I just know Duterte apologized but I don’t know another [sic] access...how we can protect ourselves,” Lee said, revealing that while he generally feels safe, he still needs to be cautious in his dealings with the Philippine state and police forces.
However, police authorities pinpoint to the existence of the so-called “Korean Mafia” as perpetrating some of the crimes against their fellow Koreans. In fact, PNP chief Dela Rosa himself told reporters that they are investigating the involvement of the Korean criminal group as a possible angle in the Jee case following reports that a Korean crime network is operating and active in the Philippines.
Is there another remedy for protection? I don't know another access by which we can protect ourselves.
Dae Hyok-Lee on the lack of available mechanisms for redress for foreign nationals like him
“There are competing [Korean crime groups] within that community but we have not yet established [their involvement]. It’s possible there is. That theory is being pursued by the PNP and the NBI in their investigation,” Dela Rosa said in an interview with inquirer.net, a sentiment shared by no less than Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II and President Duterte himself.
Given the proximity of the Philippines to Korea, the country becomes a convenient place to hide and continue criminal activities. Chief Inspector Lee Ji Hoon of the Korean Desk of the Pampanga Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) admits that his team was was able to capture 18 Korean fugitives for the last year. On 2015, alleged member of the said mafia Lee Sang Te was arrested in a private hotel and casino in Angeles City on charges of robbery and bodily harm.
The Korean embassy did not take kindly to insinuations that a Korean criminal group is behind Jee’s killing and called on Aguirre to substantiate his claims.
“The Korean Embassy regrets very much that, based on wrong and unfounded information, Secretary Aguirre made some misleading statements involving so-called Korean mafia at the Senate hearing on Feb. 23, 2017,” the statement read, adding that the Embassy feels “strongly distressed” about the circulating rumours involving the operations of the criminal syndicate group.
Keeping the faith
For Korean Christian Pastor Park (not his real name) who has lived in the Philippines for 20 years, the issue does not only call for precaution but also calls for bridging the gap between the Korean community and the Filipinos, especially with the police.
“There is always risk, danger in foreign land but it always depends on how people are living,” he said.
Park came to the Philippines to evangelize and spread Christian teachings. He stays at a Christian Church in Angeles City, Pampanga where he holds mass and daily prayers meetings for the Korean residents in the area. He has also established a Korean school in Pampanga where almost 400 Korean and Filipino students study and more than 50 Filipino teachers are employed.
Since the beginning of his move to the Philippines, Park dreams to unite the Koreans and Filipinos through the teachings of Christ, and so he expresses his disappointment that despite the country’s predominantly Christian orientation, cases of crimes continue to increase especially with the advent of the drug war.
“Accusing people, extorting money is not really Christian-like...Christians do not kill. But here, they kill,” he said, in reference to the crimes that characterize the president’s brutal crackdown on illegal drugs allegedly perpetrated by police and other State forces.
BRIDGING THE GAP. During his talks on spirituality with policemen of Station 5 in Angeles, Pampanga, Korean Christian Pastor Park makes use of this self-help book as a guide to good Christian behavior.
But instead of losing hope, Park saw this as an opportunity to improve the relationship between the Korean community and the police. At the aftermath of Jee’s case, he and some of Koreans went to Camp Crame in order to talk to the policemen following the burial of Jee. He also mentioned that Pampanga Governor Lilia “Baby” Pineda held a conference between the Korean community and the Angeles City Police Force to discuss what could be done to tighten security within the community and to restore the Koreans’ trust in the force.
Park’s own contribution to this endeavor is his own visits to Police Station 5, Angeles City where he holds “Bible Time” sessions every Tuesday and Thursday and initiates dialogues on spirituality and morality with 30-40 policemen. He’s been holding these sessions with the police ever since the issue with Jee’s death became public.
Just last year, Park had also brought his students taking up Taekwondo lessons to the Angeles police station where the children shared their moves with the officers. Park and his team also held a medical mission alongside with the police from Police Station 5 to show that he remains open to working with the police and set aside past grievances.
“We gather together to pray for this nation and safety of the Korean community in the country,” Park added, expressing hope that these instances of police harassment would decrease following the president’s decision to increase the salary of police officers.
But Park’s efforts are just one man’s and it may not be enough to resolve the issues that continue to plague the Korean community in the Philippines-- issues that will remain unsettled lest the Filipinos and Korean community confront them together.