Did Philippine gig workers help Jeffrey Epstein clean up his online image?

As Manila scrambles to investigate links between convicted US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and a Philippines-based team he allegedly hired to scrub his criminal history from the web, a relatively obscure industry in the Southeast Asian country has come under the microscope due to the revelation.Emails released by the US Department of Justice have alarmed Filipino lawmakers on the potential exploitation of gig workers from the Philippines handling online-reputation work of a shady nature.The Philippines’ Department of Information and Communications Technology-Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Centre (DICT-CICC) confirmed to local media earlier this week that it was reviewing allegations that Epstein’s associates contracted a team of Philippine workers to remove mentions of the financier’s criminal records while boosting his reputation as a philanthropist and supporter of scientific research.DICT-CICC executive director Renato Paraiso told GMA News that it was investigating the matter “in anticipation of Senate and House inquiries”.The US Department of Justice and the DICT-CICC did not mention the name of any Philippine-based firm that might have been involved with Epstein and his associates.Epstein was a high-profile American financier and convicted sex offender whose death while in federal custody in 2019 was ruled a suicide. Before his death, he was awaiting trial in the US for sex-trafficking charges involving minors.