MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines is host to more than 300 illegal Philippine offshore gaming operator (POGO) hubs in various parts of the country, Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) Undersecretary Gilbert Cruz said yesterday.
“There are about 300-plus illegal POGO hubs,” Cruz said in an interview with “Storycon” on One News. “According to Pagcor (Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp.), only around 48 or 49 registered with them and secured an IGL or internet gaming license.”
“The rest of the 300-plus did not register… Since last year, they are operating without a license,” he added.
Cruz bared the extent of the problem as PAOCC continues with its search of the more than 40 POGO hubs that it raided last week in Porac, Pampanga.
“So far, we have already searched 18 buildings. We still have to search 25 more buildings,” Cruz said.
At least four sets of military uniforms were found during the raid, some of which have the initials PLA, which authorities suspect stands for the People’s Liberation Army, the armed component of the Chinese Communist Party.
The PAOCC is verifying the authenticity of Chinese military uniforms as these may have been used to threaten their POGO subjects.
“They may have just bought it from a military surplus shop. Since we have seen emergency tags, we have to check it. Emergency tag contains blood type, names and the service that the owner of the uniform belongs to. We have to verify that to our counterpart agencies in other countries,” Cruz said, referring to China.
Meanwhile, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) expressed belief yesterday that the Chinese military uniforms found may just be props.
“The limited number of PLA uniforms found suggests they are more indicative of use in deceptive activities rather than any preparation for an invasion,” AFP spokesperson Col. Francel Margareth Padilla said.
Investigators also discovered equipment used for scams, as well as torture rooms and illegal drugs.
“The torture equipment that we are referring to are baseball bat, retractable baton, steel, blazers that you might think are batons but with electric on its end point,” Cruz said.
He said they have persons of interest, including foreign nationals and Filipinos who may have helped the syndicates get their POGOs operational.
“Filipinos are hired as workers in services such as laundry, security. But those mostly in POGO hubs are foreigners,” Cruz said.
At least 160 foreigners were taken into custody from the POGO hub. Of the figure, at least 126 are Chinese nationals.
“We already have persons of interest. There are actually names, but I am not at liberty to reveal it to you yet. The local government has issued letter of no objection last year. We are also checking 2020, 2021 and 2022. For now, what are in our possession started in 2019,” Cruz said.
Cruz said they also have names for Chinese and Filipino nationals in the SEC registration of the POGO hub.
“We will know there who represented the company,” Cruz said.
The director of the Pampanga Police Provincial Office was relieved from his post amid the ongoing investigation into the POGO hubs.
Police Regional Office 3 director Brig. Gen. Jose Hidalgo announced yesterday that Pampanga police chief Col. Levi Hope Basilio was relieved on June 10 “to pave the way for a fair and impartial investigation in relation to the POGO raid in Porac.”
The recent discovery of military uniforms with alleged markings of the PLA at the raided POGO site in Pampanga indicated “clear and present danger,” senators said yesterday.
In an interview, Sen. Robinhood Padilla questioned how members of the PLA managed to get into the country without being noticed by local and national authorities.
Reporters asked him whether the discovery of the uniform indicated a threat, and Padilla replied, “Naturally. It’s a clear and present danger to us.”
“If we want to intensify our law enforcement, let’s do it locally first. Because if the local is not on our side and the local is fighting with the national, how will the law be enforced? There needs to be coordination between the political power and the local governments so that we can understand each other,” Padilla added.
Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian said the discovery of the PLA uniform “is clear evidence that POGOs are a national security threat to our nation.”
“It has opened the doors, not only to criminal syndicates but also to those who want to destabilize and infiltrate our governmental and political institutions. This is another reason why the administration should no longer allow them to operate in our country,” Gatchalian added.
Sen. Risa Hontiveros said the discovery of the PLA uniform only corroborates information shared by intelligence agencies establishing credible links between POGOs and foreign intelligence assets. “Someone is hellbent on compromising our sovereignty.”
“The implications of these uniforms should send chills down our spine. It is so clear that every POGO has exploited our economic vulnerabilities and that POGOs have now evolved into a breeding ground for crime and a national security threat. All POGOs are bad,” she noted. — Michael Punongbayan, Emmanuel Tupas, Mark Ernest Villeza, Cecille Suerte Felipe, Sheila Crisostomo, Delon Porcalla