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Renalyn Ramirez - Philstar.com
June 10, 2026 | 5:18pm
The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation flags new extremist threat targeting Filipino minors online.
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MANILA, Philippines — Authorities have rescued 21 minors from violent extremism through an intelligence-sharing effort between Philippine agencies and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the FBI said Wednesday, June 10.
The FBI said the minors were rescued after the Anti-Terrorism Fusion Group, a global multi-agency intelligence hub, conducted 14 operations in the Philippines against nihilist violent extremism, or NVE.
This refers to violent behavior driven by a belief that life has little or no value. Unlike other forms of extremism that may be tied to political, religious or ideological causes, people influenced by NVE may be motivated by a general rejection of society and human life.
"Earlier this year, the FBI began sharing significant NVE intelligence with the government of the Philippines through the FBI-led Anti-Terrorism Fusion Group. That critical intelligence identified juveniles exhibiting indicators of violent extremist behavior," FBI co-deputy director Andrew Bailey said.
Minors targeted online
The FBI recognizes NVE as an emerging global threat that can push individuals to commit criminal acts based on the belief that human lives have no value.
Violent extremism drew attention from local authorities earlier this year after a group of high school students were rescued and prevented from carrying out an attack on their school.
Colonel Romeo Desiderio of the Philippine National Police Anti-Cybercrime Group previously told a Senate hearing that foreign extremists groom young people into NVE through the online gaming platform Roblox and social media.
Scam centers
The FBI has also been working with authorities in several Southeast Asian countries to disrupt scam centers and apprehend their operators.
"The FBI is using a strategic, intelligence-driven approach in prioritizing investigations of major actors and scam centers in the region to identify the hidden networks facilitating and benefiting from the international scam center activity," Bailey said.
Bailey identified transnational criminal organizations operating scam compounds as one of the top two threats in Asia, along with "illicit precursor and synthetic opioid production."
The FBI official also claimed that Chinese criminal groups are behind scam centers running "transnational networks" that illegally move people, technology and money across Thailand, Burma, Laos, Cambodia and other countries.
"These organizations have demonstrated a remarkable ability to exploit weak governance, exploit corruption, and exploit emerging technologies to scale their criminal activities globally. Chinese criminal enterprises have been connected to various scam compounds across the globe," Bailey said.
In the Philippines, Bailey said the FBI has been working on scam center operations with the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission, the Bureau of Immigration, the National Bureau of Investigation, the Philippine National Police and the Department of Justice.
