63 Chinese, 13 Pinoys caught in POGO raid

MANILA, Philippines — Police arrested 63 Chinese and 13 Filipinos during a raid on an illegal Philippine offshore gaming operator (POGO) in Makati City on Tuesday.

Officers of the National Capital Region Police Office, Southern Police District and the city police raided six rooms of a commercial building along Obrero street in Barangay Olympia at around 11:30 a.m. Tuesday.

Aside from arresting the 76 suspects, the raiding team also confiscated hundreds of electronic devices such as laptop and desktop computers and internet modems as well as Chinese passports, identification cards and P115,200 and 126 yuan in cash.

Police said an informant alleged that the POGO firm continued to do business despite orders from the government to shut down during the enhanced community quarantine.

The firm did not have a permit to operate from the city government, police added.

The POGO firm’s head, identified as Xiao Bao, remains at large, according to police.

The arrested suspects face charges of violating Republic Acts 11332, the Mandatory Reporting of Notifiable Diseases and Health Events of Public Health Concern Act; RA 9287 or the anti-illegal gambling law; RA 10175 or the Cybercrime Prevention Act, and disobedience to an agent of a person in authority before the city prosecutor’s office.

Meanwhile, Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello said yesterday that foreigners must still comply with alien employment permit (AEP) requirements before they could work with POGOs.

Among these requirements is for the foreigners to secure tax identification numbers so they would pay taxes, he said.

Foreigners will not be given an AEP “if the work he is applying for can be done by a Filipino,” Bello said.

He also said POGOs are also mandated to abide by the guidelines on cleanliness and safety of all workplaces to avoid possible spread of the coronavirus disease 2019. –  Mayen Jaymalin