Dead Porac councilor among execs suspended over POGO hub

ANGELES CITY, Philippines — The Office of the Ombudsman has included a dead councilor of Porac town in Pampanga among municipal officials suspended for the illegal operation of a Philippine offshore gaming operator (POGO) hub.

In an 11-page order approved on Oct. 7 by Ombudsman Samuel Martires, the name of the late councilor Regin Clarete was on the list of former and incumbent officials preventively suspended for six months without pay for gross neglect of duty.

Aside from Mayor Jaime Capil, suspended were Vice Mayor Francis Laurence Tamayo and Councilors Edwin Abuque, Michelle Bengco, Princess Buan, Rito Buan, Jin Mikhaela Canlas, Roman Paul David, Maynard Lapid, Remberto Lapid, Rafael Canlapan, Adrian Carreon, Essel Joy David, Hilario Dimalanta, Michelle Santos and John Nuevy Venzon as well as licensing officer Emerald Vital, former vice mayor Charlie Santos and former councilor Michael Tapang.

The complaint of gross neglect of duty was filed by the Department of the Interior and Local Government.

The case stemmed from the operation of Lucky South 99, which was raided by agents of the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission in June.

Clarete, who died in May 2023, was succeeded by his sister, Myla Clarete, in the municipal council in September of the same year.

Myla was appointed acting Porac mayor due to the suspension of Capil. She is a sister-in-law of Tapang, who is seeking the mayoral post in the 2025 midterm elections.