MANILA, Philippines — Two service providers to Philippine offshore gaming operators accused of being involved in abductions are still operating, the country’s gaming regulator admitted Monday, despite them being flagged in a privilege speech by Sen. Grace Poe back in December.
The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation told senators during a hearing that it has only imposed a $10,000 or more than P500,000 on Brickhartz Technology Inc., one of the companies allegedly involved, while no punishment has been given to MOA Cloudzone Corp., another firm accused of kidnapping.
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The continued operations of Brickhartz and MOA Cloudzone angered Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian, chairperson of the ways and means panel, as he said called these companies “criminal elements.”
“These are embroiled in kidnap for ransom. I don’t think [any] amount of penalty will stop them from doing this. These are criminal elements, do you think they would be scared of penalties?” Gatchalian said.
Sen. Grace Poe, in a privilege speech at the Senate in December, said that she had learned of an abduction of a Filipina in Pasay who was later brought to a "POGO dorm in Cavite, where she was sold off to a 'Chinese-looking' buyer" for P350,000.
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She said the victim had been initially offered a job as a personal assistant with a salary of P100,000 month. But when she went to meet the prospective employer in Pasay City, she was forced into a red SUV and brought to Cavite.
Brickhartz is the registered owner of the POGO dorm.
Gatchalian also chastised PAGCOR for supposedly lacking urgency and for being entangled in conflicts of interest as a regulator.
“You earn on one hand, but on the other you’re regulating. But your regulation is for kids and is slow,” Gatchalian said partly in Filipino.
“If I were you, these two companies should be banned completely, should not be allowed to operate, get all the names involved in the crime, and completely ban them from coming to our shores,” he said. — Xave Gregorio