Will the country be free from POGO?
CLARK FREEPORT, Philippines – About four months into the Senate investigation, three months since the House of Representatives’ quad committee, the government came at a full swing in ceasing illegal Philippine offshore gaming operations (POGOs).
The Senate probe led by the committee on women, children, family relations and gender equality will finally come to a close with its last hearing on September 24, according to the office of its committee chair Senator Risa Hontiveros.
The quad committee will proceed with its investigation on POGOs, illegal drugs, and extra judicial killings.
“Tuesday next week is the continuation of (the) POGO hearing in (the) Committee on Women. Inaasahang ito na ang last sa POGO hearing,” according to the office of Hontiveros.
“Policy-wise, I want to share what we have achieved so far. We have managed to identify gaps in border control, the system of granting visas, law enforcement, and birth registration, and now the government agencies that operate in these aspects are having their own investigations,” Hontiveros said.
“I believe that we are getting closer and closer to the truth,” she added. “Our hearings have allowed us to craft an amendment – accepted and passed into law – to the Anti-Financial Account Scamming Act Law.
We are also crafting amendments to the Expanded Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act to add ‘forced criminality’ in the definition of human trafficking.”
It was the POGO in Bamban, Tarlac that triggered the Senate to conduct a series of hearings which led to the suspension and later the dismissal from public service of its Chinese mayor, Alice Guo or Guo Hua Ping.
After her backdoor escape on July 18 with her siblings Sheila and Wesley, the trio reached Malaysia in about five days before traveling to Singapore and Indonesia, where they met Porac’s POGO personality, Cassandra Li Ong.
On August 21, Cassandra and Sheila were caught and detained in Indonesia and returned to the Philippines the following day. Meanwhile, Guo was arrested on September 3 and was handed over to Philippine authorities two days later, arriving back in the Philippines on September 6.
Guo was charged with trafficking for her role in Baofu Land Development, a real estate firm that leased property to Hongsheng, later renamed Zun Yuan Technology Incorporated. Although Guo claimed she had divested from Baofu, investigators found the divestment documents to be fraudulent.
Additionally, Guo faces graft and corruption charges before the Valenzuela Regional Trial Court (RTC), a case transferred from the Tarlac RTC, the reason why she is detained under the custody of the Philippine National Police.
Guo is set to be moved to Pasig City jail following the Pasig RTC’s issuance of arrest warrants against her and other business partners for non-bailable charges of qualified trafficking.
Meanwhile, Cassandra has been ordered by the House quad committee to serve 30 days at the Correctional Institute for Women for evading questions from lawmakers about her assets and educational background.
Since the May 2023 raid in the Clark Freeport Zone, at least nine Senate resolutions have been issued, and bills and Presidential Decrees will be reviewed and amended.
Next, the Senate will investigate Pastor Apollo Quiboloy of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ, who is also a Kapampangan. Meanwhile, the public awaits a POGO-free country by 2025.