MANILA, Philippines — The Senate investigation into Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGOs) has wrapped up, with lawmakers recommending charges against those who protected dismissed Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo.
Named in Senate Committee Report 514 is Sual, Pangasinan Mayor Liseldo Calugay, who was linked to Guo as both an alleged business partner and romantic interest.
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The panel cited communication records and financial transactions suggesting a personal and business relationship between Calugay and Guo.
A resource person using the alias "Ka Dante" also revealed to the Senate in an executive session that they assisted in the notarization of Guo’s affidavit, which became a point of contention in the case. Guo was required to make a personal appearance for the affidavit to be notarized.
The document was notarized in August last year, but Guo had already left the country in July. Notarizing the affidavit created the appearance that she was still in the country after fleeing.
Ka Dante said that it was Calugay’s secretary, Cheryl Ordono, who instructed them to oversee the notarization of the affidavit.
“After investigation, for the relevant authorities to file criminal cases under Republic Act No. 3019 and other laws against public officials involved in illegal activities related to POGOs and in the protection of Guo Hua Ping/Alice Guo, including Sual Mayor Liseldo Calugay,” the report read.
Republic Act No. 3019 is the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.
The report also focused on Tony Yang or Yang Jianxin, the brother of former presidential economic adviser to ex-president Rodrigo Duterte, Michael Yang.
During the Senate hearings, Yang admitted to faking his Filipino identity to operate local businesses here.
The National Bureau of Investigation has already filed 16 counts of falsification and perjury against Tony Yang.
However, the panel also urged authorities to further investigate the Yangs.
“For the relevant authorities to deepen preliminary information received on the possible intelligence work of Michael Yang, and possibly Tony Yang and Hongjiang Yang, for a malign foreign influence,” read the panel recommendation.
In the report, the Bureau of Immigration (BI) was also asked to report to the Senate the reforms it implemented following Guo’s escape from the Philippines despite intense scrutiny and public attention during the POGO hearings.
The BI faced intense criticisms following Guo’s escape. After Guo slipped through authorities, former commissioner Norman Tansingco was sacked by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
The panel also recommended that the Anti-Money Laundering Council probe possible lapses among banks that failed to flag the anomalous bank transactions of Guo.
The Securities and Exchange Commission was urged to review its procedures for verifying the identities of incorporators. The Philippine Statistics Authority was also asked to probe the number of unregistered Filipinos.
In her privilege speech, Sen. Risa Hontiveros, chair of the Senate Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations and Gender Equality, said that while the probe in the upper House has concluded, there is still much work to be done to tie up the loose ends of POGO operations in the Philippines.
“This Committee Report lays out the multifarious and nefarious schemes that POGOs used to infiltrate the Philippines, and recommends ways forward to address the many vulnerabilities revealed by this problem,” Hontiveros said.
Sen. Joel Villanueva also manifested his support for the report, saying that the proliferation of POGOs has worsened over the years. He said that the Anti-POGO bill must be passed so that the ban on offshore gaming hubs extends beyond the current administration.
He also cited the need to include guidelines against cryptocurrency, which is often used in POGO operations.
“It is our hope that there will be a strong regulatory framework for cryptocurrency and the enhanced coordination between the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, Securities and Exchange Commission, and the Anti-Money Laundering Council,” he said.