A Philippine senator has likened hearings into illicit offshore gaming operations to a “talk show” that is keeping lawmakers from the true culprits, an “international crime syndicate”. Meanwhile, illicit POGOs continue to operate in the country.
In a 7 October news release, Philippines Senator JV Ejercito said hearings on Philippine Offshore Gaming Operations (POGOs) have turned into the equivalent of “a talk show”.
He urged lawmakers to conclude the proceedings and pursue the “real goal, identifying the international crime syndicate [that is] really behind this”.
POGOs brought down by allegations of crime
On 22 July, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr banned POGOs following allegations of rampant crime.
Since then, much of the attention has been focused on Alice Guo, the disgraced former mayor of Bamban, Tarlac Province.
Elected in August 2022, Guo is actually a Chinese national and therefore ineligible to hold office in the Philippines. She allegedly helped fund a sprawling POGO that was a front for online scams. After a March raid, workers there claimed to be victims of human trafficking who routinely faced threats of abuse and torture.
Guo made more headlines when she fled the Philippines. In September, after an international manhunt, she was captured in Indonesia and extradited to the Philippines.
But Ejercito says Guo is “a mere front” for a larger organised crime operation. In recent video testimony, Wang Fugui, cellmate of confessed Chinese spy She Zhijiang, told Senator Risa Hontiveros that Guo, too, is a spy, “but not a special one”.
POGO fight “far from over”
Despite the ban, POGOs have continued to operate in the country. On 4 September, an illegal POGO hub was uncovered in Subic, Philippines. On 3 October, another was raided in Pasay City, in the shadow of the senate building.
A fuming Senator Win Gatchalian said the fight against POGOs is “far from over”.
“Criminal syndicates continue to exploit POGO resources to fuel their fraudulent operations,” he said. “They even managed to operate it right behind the building of the senate – the institution investigating the problems caused by POGOs.”
Traditionally, most POGOs have been Chinese-run. But in a 5 October radio interview, Gatchalian said Filipinos are now getting in on the action. “I fear that some of our own countrymen, who saw that scamming is very profitable, are now doing the scamming activities themselves.
“This is ‘technology transfer’ in an evil way. A criminal activity has been ‘transferred’ to the locals,” he added.
Guo pondered reelection run
In a bizarre twist, Philippines media this week reported that Guo was considering a second run for mayor of Bamban. Her attorney, Stephen David, said she would do so to “show her love for the people”.
But she missed the 8 October deadline to file and has proclaimed she will concentrate on proving her innocence. Guo faces a raft of criminal charges, including graft, human trafficking and misrepresentation.
