A fool and his money are soon parted ! For you newbees headed to Manila be very careful of what you are drinking these drugs can be put on food also. Humabdos
June 15, 2002
Gordon wants report on S. Korean's death
MANILA -- Tourism Secretary Richard Gordon summoned the police brass to a meeting Friday amid a rash of robbery attacks targeting expatriates frequenting nightspots in Manila.
Edgardo Aglipay, police director for the National Capital Region, said Gordon sought the meeting to check on the case of South Korean embassy third secretary Chung Young-Ho, found dead on an eastern Manila street last week, the apparent victim of a conman who spiked his drink and then stole his valuables.
South Korean Foreign Minister Choi Sung-Hong early this week summoned Filipino ambassador Juanito Jarasa to protest the attack on Chung and demanded that Manila take more steps to protect the estimated 30,000 Korean residents in the country.
Aglipay said police have been conducting sweeps through known tourist spots and red light districts in Manila for Chung's attackers, whom he said are members of a criminal syndicate that drugs its victims before robbing them.
"We know already (who they are) and we are just looking for them," Aglipay said, referring to Chung's assailants.
He said foreign embassy staff "can go to night clubs" but should keep in mind "that there is such at thing as (a) kind of modus operandi victimizing foreigners."
Earlier Friday, PNP Chief Leandro Mendoza advised foreigners to avoid the seamier side of Manila and stay away from "honky tonk women."
"Our visitors should be properly advised not to entertain strangers, particularly when they go drinking or mixing with women, especially in honky tonk areas," Mendoza said on government television.
He noted that Chung had hooked up with a South Korean friend and an unknown male suspect in the Makati financial district for a night out in the bars on the eastern fringes of the capital.
"You know, if you go to a honky tonk woman anywhere in the world you are courting trouble," Mendoza said.
An official autopsy released by the police Friday concluded that the diplomat had suffocated on his own vomit after being dumped unconscious on an eastern Manila street.
Tests showed alcohol in the victim's stomach, and he may have been unconscious at the time of death, it added.
Further tests would be needed to determine if he had been drugged, the statement said, adding the gang that preyed on foreigners typically used a pill containing the potent chemical lorazepam.
Aside from Chung, police said an Israeli and a Frenchman were also separately drugged and robbed under similar circumstances. (AFP)
