Repurposing the seized POGO hubs

An inter-agency task force led by the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) is evaluating proposals to re-purpose the sprawling land and building assets earlier seized from illegal Philippine online gaming operators (POGOs). The PAOCC, chaired by Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, received such proposals to transform for government use these POGO hubs that were shut down in Bamban, Tarlac and in Porac, Pampanga, PAOCC executive director, retired Police General Gilbert Cruz, disclosed at the Kapihan sa Manila Bay news forum last Wednesday.

Cruz revealed the proposals to re-purpose the land and buildings seized this year from the two biggest POGO scamming hubs in Tarlac and Porac are seriously being considered by the PAOCC Board for approval. The Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC), one of the members of the 47-inter-agency body of the PAOCC, has initiated already the forfeiture petitions filed in the courts concerned.

According to the PAOCC chief, the Bamban POGO is being eyed by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) for military use, while the Porac POGO building is being proposed to be converted as a new state university/college (SUC). In fact, a bill was filed yesterday in Congress seeking to forfeit foreign-acquired real estate properties, particularly those linked to POGOs.

At the same Kapihan sa Manila Bay news forum, Department of Information and Communications (DICT) Undersecretary Alexander Ramos explained many of these POGOs started as BPO (business process outsourcing) companies that answer queries on online casino games. However, many of the cyber scams were traced to these POGO hubs that became the “red flags” to detect clandestine POGOs, Ramos added.

As the concurrent executive director of the Cyber Crime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC), Ramos reiterated their full collaboration with the PAOCC in tracking down the POGOs once the total ban takes effect by the end of this year, as ordered by President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. (PBBM).

Through this “whole-of-government” approach, Ramos assuaged public fears that dismantling the POGO structures amid the total ban will only result to “guerrilla” operations, or small clandestine operators. Cruz looks forward to the Executive Order that PBBM will issue any day now to implement the total ban of POGO, including those registered as internet gaming licensees of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (PAGCOR).

For now, Cruz announced the PAOCC has already been using the six-storey building in Pasay City raided in October last year. At least 200 personnel of the firm, mostly Chinese nationals, were involved in the “love scam” as modus operandi of this Pasay City POGO hub. The arrested Chinese nationals were among the more than 800 other POGO workers now detained in this PAOCC “holding center” while facing court cases for violation of our country’s laws.

Currently, Cruz cited, the first two floors of the same building have been converted as a temporary shelter for street children rescued in Metro Manila by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD). While the third and upper floors of the building are currently being used by PAOCC as “holding facilities.” According to Cruz, they constructed detention cells with steel or iron bars to prevent the escape of these arrested illegal POGO workers coming from various countries. The rest of the building is occupied by personnel of the Department of Justice (DOJ) as member of the six-man PAOCC board.

Many of the arrested Chinese nationals have already been deported back to China. Cruz bared another batch of Chinese nationals they have arrested from the other raided illegal POGO hubs will be deported back to China next week.

With the cooperation of the Chinese embassy, he cited, they now pay for their plane fare. But the Philippine government still has to bankroll the feeding and securing of the detainees, along with the maintenance costs of this building in Pasay City.

Closed down one after the other this year by the PAOCC, Cruz noted the building and assets of these seized POGO scam hubs could actually be re-fitted according to the proposed use of the government agency concerned. According to him, the Bamban POGO is being eyed by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) for military use while the Porac POGO building is being proposed to be converted as a new state university or college (SUC).

The Bamban POGO hub sits on a 10-hectare property, where 37 buildings consisting of a shopping mall and condominiums for offices and residential purposes. Following the discovery of the Bamban POGO hub, Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. earlier noted with concern that it was located very close to Camp O’Donnell base in Capas, Tarlac, home of the Philippine Army’s Training and Doctrine Command (Tradoc).

No wonder the AFP broached the idea of repurposing the Bamban POGO hub for military use.

On the other hand, Cruz noted in agreement that the Porac POGO hub could indeed be repurposed into an SUC because of the design of the buildings, which could be transformed into classrooms that already have computer and internet system. When the PAOCC-led raiding team swooped down on this POGO in the Lucky South 99 compound in Porac on June 4, they discovered it was three times bigger than the Baofu Compound in Bamban where two illegal POGOs used to operate.

Meanwhile, a number of public officials like dismissed mayor Alice Guo and private individuals were also charged with graft and corruption cases for allegedly coddling these POGOs. A landowner who sold lands that were later leased to the POGO in Porac was also hailed to court.

Just last Oct. 31, the PAOCC shut down another suspected POGO registered as BPO at the Central One Bataan located inside the Authority of the Freeport Area in Bataan (AFAB). Many of those caught here were Filipinos, with six foreign nationals who included a “wanted fugitive” from Indonesia. The raid though was marred by the slapping incident involving Winston Casio, then PAOCC official spokesman.

The latest seized POGO building inside state-owned lands can be added to possible re-purposing for government use. This could be the best deterrent against POGOs.