THE Department of Justice (DOJ) has recommended the filing of qualified trafficking and kidnapping complaints against two Chinese nationals who worked at the Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (POGO) hub raided in Porac, Pampanga where more than 150 foreign workers were rescued by authorities.
In a 14-page resolution dated August 30, the panel of prosecutors recommended that a complaint for qualified trafficking be filed against 41-year-old Jiang Shi Guang, and a kidnapping charge against Qin Ren Guo, 37. They were sued for their suspected role in supervising Chinese nationals who worked at the POGO firm Lucky South 99.
The resolution was based on the recommendation by the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) and the complaint filed by two Chinese nationals in July.
One of the complainants said he was recruited in May by another Chinese national to work as a chef in the Philippines but was allegedly sold and brought to the POGO compound in Porac town where he was supposedly forced to work as an online scammer.
The complainant said he was “subjected to inhumane treatment” while allegedly restrained to a bed and detained for several days.
The other complainant said he was kidnapped in June and brought to the Porac facility where he was supposedly tortured after his wife refused to give in to the demands of his abductors to shell out P300,000 in ransom money.
He was able to escape and reported his ordeal to authorities.
The PAOCC and the PNP- Criminal Investigation and Detection Group has filed a qualified human trafficking complaint before the DOJ against Katherine Cassandra Li Ong, who is a representative of Lucky South 99, and 53 others in connection to the operation of the Porac POGO firm.
HARRY ROQUE
The quad committee of the House of Representatives yesterday held former presidential spokesperson Harry Roque in contempt for the second time in just three weeks and ordered his detention for reneging on his earlier commitment to submit documents required by the panel in its ongoing inquiry into the operation of illegal Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs) in the country.
Joint panel chairperson Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert Ace Barbers ordered the committee to take custody of Roque and to keep him in detention until he submits the documents or until the hearing is terminated.
Batangas Rep. Gerville Luistro told the panel that during the hearing last August 22, Roque assured lawmakers that he will cooperate with the ongoing inquiry and comply with the subpoena duces tecum it issued.
Abang Lingkod party-list Rep. Joseph Paduano, chairperson of the Committee on Public Accounts, said under the subpoena duces tecum issued by the quad committee, Roque was told to present the hospital records of surgeries performed on his wife, the deed of sale and proof of tax payments on his disposal of a 1.8 hectare lot in Multinational Village in Paranaque City, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) documents regarding the transfer of shares to Percival Ortega including trust agreements signed between them, and the judicial affidavit executed by Katherine Cassandra Ong.
He was also told to produce his Statements of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth (SALNs) for the years 2016 to 2022 with proof of filing, the income tax return of Biancham Holdings and Trading Inc., and his and his wife’s joint ITR from 2014 to 2022.
Paduano said Roque did not submit the required documents and instead filed a Motion to Quash the subpoena.
The motion was unanimously denied by all members of the quad committee on a motion from Luistro.
“The quad comm has established overwhelming circumstantial evidence showing the connection of Atty. Harry Roque to Lucky South Corp which is a POGO operator where we apprehended Chinese nationals, victims of human trafficking. murder, and internet scam,” Luistro said.
She likewise pointed out that Biancham Holdings owns the property in Tuba, Benguet where an employee of Lucky South hid until he was apprehended by authorities.
“That is where we started investigating Biancham. We found out about the sudden increase in its assets in 2018 coming from P125,000 before 2016. In 2018 the current assets of Biancham rose to P125 million. At the height of the interpellation, Atty. Roque said that this money did not come from POGO operation,” the Batangas lawmaker added.
Luistro noted that during the time material to the investigation, Roque was serving as spokesperson of former President Rodrigo Duterte but that during the hearing, he was unable to offer any explanation where the money came from other than citing the sale of a certain property in Mutinational Village in Parañaque City.
“There is a question about the source of the money of Biancham Corp which belongs to Atty. Harry Roque and following this question, if he will not be able to prove the legal and valid source of this sudden increase of assets of Biancham, then there is a reasonable ground to believe that indeed he is connected to POGO operations and that this money possibly came from POGO operation,” she stressed.
Bukidnon Rep. Jonathan Keith Flores moved to cite Roque in contempt and order his detention, invoking Section 11(d) of the House Rules of Procedure Governing Inquiries in Aid of Legislation, which addresses refusal to comply with a subpoena and failure to submit required documents. The committee unanimously approved the motion.
This is the second time that Roque has earned the ire of the joint panel. During the August 22 hearing, he was cited also in contempt for lying about his absence from the August 16 session in Porac, Pampanga for which he was held in detention overnight with a warning that any future contemptible behavior would lead to harsher penalties.
Lucky South 99 is an illegal POGO firm in Porac, Pampanga, which was raided last June, where authorities uncovered evidence of human trafficking, torture, scam farms, prostitution, and various other illegal activities.
Roque denied any involvement with POGOs, but Luistro pointed out the stark contrast between his modest government salary and the sudden surge in his assets, including shares in Biancham Holdings.
Luistro said the findings of the quad committee hearings may lead to amendments to the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act (RA 3019), the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees (RA 6713), the Anti-Money Laundering Act, Corporation Law, and even the Code of Professional Responsibility and Accountability for Lawyers.
REGULATE, NOT BAN
Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (Pagcor) chairman Alejandro Tengco yesterday said it is better for the government to properly regulate the country’s online gaming industry rather than ban them.
Tengco aired his opinion as the Senate Committee on Ways and Means continued to tackle Senate Bills Nos. 63 and 1281 proposing to ban all forms of online gaming in the country due to the social ills linked to their operations.
Tengco said banning the online gaming industry will only result to the underground operations of gaming companies due to the large money they earn.
“Mr. Chairman, kung hindi po natin ire-regulate ito, nakakalungkot mang sabihin sa lahat, tuloy pa rin po ang hanapbuhay ng mga ito kaya minarapat ko na lang po na bigyan pansin. Regulate it properly and generate revenue for Pagcor and which we give back to the country (Mr. Chairman, if we do not regulate this, sad to say that this industry will still go on, that’s why we took our time to just regulate them. Regulate it properly and generate revenue for Pagcor and which we give back to the country),” Tengco said.
“Maski po ano pong gawin natin, ang natitiyak ko ay magpapatuloy itong illegal na operations (Illegal operations will continue no matter what),” he added.
Tengco said online gaming is now the trend in other parts of the world due to the easy access of patrons, as compared to land-based integrated resorts which offer various forms of gaming.
He said gross gaming revenues (GGR) from the online gaming industry was only around P12.8 billion when he assumed as Pagcor chairman in 2022.
In 2023, Tengco said they lowered the corresponding fees to entice online gaming companies to register with Pagcor. At that time, he said the GGR reached around P58 billion.
He said the projected GGR for online gaming will reach around P100 billion at the end of the year.
Tengco said there are now 40 online gaming companies registered with Pagcor.
“In fact, Mr. Chairman, ang dami pong mga kumpanya ang gusto na pong magpa-rehistro. Dati silang mga unregistered or illegal. Dahil sa ibinaba po natin yung mga fees, na pumantay lang tayo sa mga fees ng ibang regulatory companies abroad or in other jurisdictions, wala na pong pupuntahan yung mga hindi rehistrado kung hindi ang sumurrender na sa Pagcor (In fact, Mr. Chairman, a lot of unregistered companies now want to register with us because we lowered the fees, we made it at par with regulatory companies abroad or in other jurisdictions. That’s why there is no other way but for them to surrender to Pagcor),” he said.
Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian, in a press conference after the hearing, said they will thoroughly study Tengco’s proposal, noting that revenues derived from the industry can offset government revenue losses as an offshoot of the closure of Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs) by the end of the year.
“Lumalaki ang kita sa e-gaming. Matatandaan natin ang nakuha ng Pagcor sa POGO is about P6 billion, and nakuha ng BIR, P8 billion. So, that’s more or less P15 billion. Sa e-gaming naman ang laki ng pagpasok ng pera sa Pagcor, mga P22 billion, sa BIR, 12 billion (Revenues from e-gaming is on an upward trend. I recall that Pagcor earned about P6 billion from POGOs, while the BIR [Bureau of Internal Revenue] got P8 billion, so that’s more or less P15 billion. Earnings from e-gaming is big since Pagcor got P22 billion, while the BIR, P12 billion),” he said.
Gatchalian, however, said Pagcor needs to introduce additional measures so it can properly regulate the online gaming industry, including stricter registration of players to make sure that no minors or government employees, especially men in uniform, can create their accounts.
At the same time, Gatchalian said the committee will recommend that Special Class Business Processing Outsourcing (SCBPO) companies have a 95 percent Filipin workforce to prevent POGOs from using them as cover for their illegal operations.
He made the statement after representatives of law enforcement agencies present during the hearing expressed fear that POGOs may continue their operations despite the order of the President to ban them.
“Ang nakita naming regulation dapat 95 percent ng empleyado Pinoy, ang customer mo locals. Kung Pinoy ang mga empleyado mo ay hindi sila marunong ng ibang foreign language kaya hinidi sila makakapag-communicate sa ibang foreigner. Yun ang isang mechanism para hindi sila makalipat (A regulation we see is to require SCBPO to have 95 percent Filipino employees, and their customers should be locals. Most Filipinos do not know other foreign language so they cannot communicate with foreigners. That’s one mechanism that we are thinking of to prevent POGOs from covering under SCBPOs),” Gatchalian said.
Unlike POGOs, he said the computer and internet systems of SCBPOs should be designed in such a way that they cannot receive money abroad in whatever manner.
Cagayan Economic Zone Authority administrator Katrina Ponce Enrile said they have their own internet service provider (ISP) designed to block the entry of bets or money since SCBPOs in their economic zone provide services to offshore gaming companies.
Gatchalian said other SCBPOs should also have ISPs similar to that of the CEZA’s. — With Peter Tabingo and Raymond Africa
