Duterte set bad example for POGOs – Hontiveros

MANILA, Philippines —  With his open door policy on Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGO), former president Rodrigo Duterte set a bad example that bred illegal online gaming scams and other serious criminal activities in the country like human trafficking, Sen. Risa Hontiveros said yesterday.

Hontiveros, chair of the Senate committee on women, children, family relations and gender equality, said it was during the Duterte administration that the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (PAGCOR) was given the mandate to issue licenses to POGOs, particularly his partners in the business.

Hontiveros’ panel is investigating alleged human trafficking and cyber fraud operations at establishments in Clark Freeport in Pampanga.

The inquiry has led to the discovery of illegal activities at POGO hubs including the one in Bamban, Tarlac whose mayor – Alice Guo – was found to be Chinese using fake documents to pass herself off as Filipino. Her fingerprints match with those of Chinese national Guo Hua Ping.

The Senate investigation also prompted PAGCOR chairman and CEO Alejandro Tengco to reveal that a former Cabinet member had lobbied for POGOs.

Senators, including Senate President Francis Escudero, Sherwin Gatchalian and Juan Miguel Zubiri have called on Tengco to name the official at the next hearing of Hontiveros’ committee.

Hontiveros also noted efforts by PAGCOR to rebrand POGOs by calling them internet gaming licensees (IGLs) run by the same operators.

“Now they are changing the instrument. They said they have this IGL, an internet gaming license. But wait, they should step on the brakes – they’re still facilitating POGO,” she said.

“Several hearings by several committees in the past four years had shown that the rosy promises of POGO had not been met. They owe the government a lot in taxes, and they really have spawned a host of evils against our citizens and our society,” Hontiveros said.

She added there should be no more distinction between legal and illegal POGO as the legal ones had given birth to illegal online gaming being used as fronts for scamming and other unlawful activities.

“That takes away the reason or the excuse for anyone, past or present in government, to sponsor this vile industry that really is interconnected with criminal syndicates,” she pointed out.

Facing a non-bailable criminal case of qualfied trafficking in persons, Guo – if she were convicted – should first be made to serve her sentence in the Philippines before she gets deported, Hontiveros said. She also said Guo should be removed as mayor for submitting certificate of candidacy to the Commission on Elections “under false pretenses.”

“Even before she may be deported, to whichever country she will be deported to, she must first serve her sentence here in the Philippines, if she is convicted or sentenced in any of the cases that have been filed or will be filed against her. There’s also a quo warranto case that the Office of the Solicitor General said they would soon file against her.”

For Speaker Martin Romualdez, a total ban on POGO is unlikely to eliminate online gaming as they would just go underground.

In a radio interview, Romualdez said POGOs will not really go away if banned “because there seems to be big demand for it.”

“They are already here so for me, we have to follow the law – strict enforcement (of the law,)” he said.

He cited the total prohibition of alcohol in the United States in 1920s that he claimed resulted in more criminal activities.

Romualdez said stricter law enforcement could lead to higher tax collection from POGOs.

Currently, he said there are 42 licensed POGOs from the 298 legalized in 2019.

However, the taxes collected by the government from the 42 POGOs were higher than those from the 298 POGOs, he pointed out.

“For me, since there is a law, we should implement the law strictly.  If we really want them out, then we repeal the law,” he added.

He was apparently referring to Republic Act 11590 or the Act Taxing POGOs which effectively legitimized the operation of these online gambling establishments in the country.

Torture videos

Meanwhile, the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) has obtained videos of workers being tortured at a POGO establishment in Porac, Pampanga.

PAOCC spokesman Winston John Casio said they have 15 torture videos,  three of which were confirmed to have been filmed at Lucky South 99, the POGO hub raided and closed down by law enforcement agencies.

“We are trying to verify if all of them (footage filmed) were in Porac,” Casio said in a phone interview.

He said one of the videos showed a woman believed to be Chinese being hit repeatedly by a man with a hard object. In another footage, a naked man is shown being electrocuted.

Based on their investigation, Casio said the two incidents happened before the raid on June 4.

“They tried to escape but they were caught, so that’s how they ended up,” Casio said.

Another video was that of an unidentified individual being repeatedly hit with a baseball bat, which Casio said happened after the raid.

He said the victim was punished based on suspicions that he tipped off authorities about the illegal activities in the POGO hub.

Casio said some of the victims shown in the videos could already be dead and their remains disposed of. –  Emmanuel Tupas, Sheila Crisostomo