Burial site of POGO workers in Porac? PAOCC checking

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine offshore gaming operator (POGO) hub raided in Porac, Pampanga last June allegedly has a burial site where foreigners who were killed are buried, the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission said yesterday.

PAOCC spokesman Winston John Casio said witnesses tipped them off about a supposed burial ground near the Lucky South 99 compound.

“There are certain areas where the dead foreign nationals are allegedly buried,” Casio said in an interview over dzBB.

The reports of killings of foreigners at Lucky South 99 are proof of the violence inflicted on the workers in the POGO hub ranging from torture to killing, he added.

Casio did not pinpoint the exact location of the burial site except that it is near Lucky South 99.

Law enforcement authorities swooped down on the POGO hub last June in response to reports of human trafficking, torture and other criminal activities occurring in the compound.

Casio said they got information from the police that 12 foreigners were killed in the area near the POGO hub. He did not reveal other details about the victims.

To validate the information, Casio said they would apply for a search warrant within the week so they could begin digging the supposed burial grounds.

“We already went there last week but I told the task group to secure a (search) warrant first before digging,” he said.

At least 186 foreigners and Filipinos were rounded up in the POGO hub during the raid which occurred on June 5.

Alice Guo, the dismissed mayor of Bamban, Tarlac, is also believed to be connected with the POGO firm in Porac.

Casio laughed off Guo’s claim that she is facing death threats, saying the person the former mayor is referring to is not known to be a violent person.

“That is pure hogwash,” he said.

Casio said they are also looking into the alleged ties of Mayor Liseldo Calugay of Sual, Pangasinan to Guo, which were made public at a Senate hearing.