LAWMAKERS on Thursday night ordered the 30-day detention of Katherine Cassandra Li Ong at the Correctional Institution for Women (CIW) in Mandaluyong City after citing her in contempt for the second time for lying during the ongoing investigation of the House quad committee into illegal Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGOs).
Ong, who is currently detained at the House of Representatives, will be transferred to the CWI after her first 30-day contempt penalty for snubbing the chamber’s hearings ends on September 26.
Ong is the alleged authorized representative and an incorporator of Lucky South 99, a POGO hub in Porac, Pampanga that was raided by authorities for various illegal activities last June.
The quad comm is looking into the illegal POGO operations and their connections to various illicit activities, including money laundering, human trafficking, and drug smuggling.
During Thursday’s hearing, Ong was again cited in contempt for giving false testimony about her educational background.
Rep. Joseph Stephen Paduano, a co-chair of the House quad committee, questioned Ong’s claim of attending Alternative Learning System (ALS) classes in 2016 or 2017 because of inconsistencies in her responses about where she attended the program.
During the hearing, the 24-year-old Ong said she could not recall which public school she attended the ALS program.
“You’re lying, Ms. Cassandra Ong. Remember, previously you were cited in contempt, and I will once again cite you in contempt for lying,” Paduano told Ong, adding that the resource person’s explanation was incredible because it is impossible for anyone to forget the names of the schools they attended.
“Kahit sinong tanungin mo dito, alam nila kung saan sila nag-elementary, saan sila nag-high school (You can ask anyone here, they know where they attended elementary and high school),” said the lawmaker, who chairs the House Committee on Public Accounts.
Antipolo City Rep. Romeo Acop, a senior vice chair of the quad committee, said: “Ako ang matanda na pero alam ko pa rin kung saan ako nag-graduate ng elementary school. Tapos ikaw, batang bata ka pa, hindi mo alam kung saan ka nagtapos (I’m old but I know where I graduated elementary school. And you, who are still so young, don’t know where you went to school).”
Paduano said Ong, whose citizenship is also being looked into by lawmakers, could have attended school in another country.
He then moved to cite Ong in contempt for the second time.
The motion was approved by Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert Ace Barbers, the overall chair of the quad committee, after no objections were raised.
The joint panel also adopted Acop’s motion to transfer Ong to the women’s prison facility in Mandaluyong City.
Ong was previously cited in contempt after repeatedly failing to attend hearings in relation to POGO-related crimes.
Last August 23, Ong was arrested in Jakarta, Indonesia, alongside Shiela Guo, the sister of dismissed Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo, who is also allegedly involved in illegal POGO operations in her town.
Both were immediately deported to the Philippines.
Ong was handed over to the National Bureau of Investigation and subsequently transferred to House custody.
Meanwhile, Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla said the Department of Justice (DOJ) is anticipating that illegal POGOs may resort to “dirty tactics’ as the December 31 deadline banning operations in the country of all offshore gambling is fast approaching.
Remulla issued the statement a day after he said foreign nationals working in POGOs have until October 15 to voluntarily repatriate. He said on Thursday that starting October 16, all 9G visas of affected foreign POGO workers would be downgraded to tourist visas and that they are compelled to leave the country within 60 days or face involuntary repatriation.
The Task Force POGO Closure composed of the DOJ, Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation, Department of Labor and Employment, Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission, and the Bureau of Immigration met on Thursday.
Yesterday, Remulla said in a statement: “Pagcor chairman Alejandro Tengco warned that the most challenging part for the Task Force in weeding out POGOs from the country begins on the very first day of 2025 as they foresee that POGO operators will try to employ dirty tactics to hide their illegal business.”
“With the President’s guidance, we can now unleash the full consequences of the law against these undesirable elements of society,” he said as he disclosed that 41 licensed POGOs under Pagcor have already expressed their intention to comply with the President’s directive and “completely cease operations.” — With Ashzel Hachero
