18 sets of Chinese military uniforms found in Porac POGO — PAOCC

Authorities have found a total of 18 sets of Chinese military uniforms at the raided Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (POGO) hub in Porac, Pampanga, the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) said Friday.

"Ang alam ko po nasa mga 18 sets na po ito eh. Pero iba-iba po ito. Iba-iba po at chine-check pa rin po natin itong as to 'yung authenticity nitong mga uniforms na ito," PAOCC Undersecretary Gilbert Cruz told Super Radyo dzBB.

(As far as I know, we have 18 sets so far. Not all of these are the same. We are still checking the authenticity of the uniforms.)

Cruz said that authorities would also check if the uniforms were owned by a single person or by multiple individuals.

"Che-check natin kung ilang tao o isang tao o dalawang tao lang po ba 'yung may ari nito… hindi naman po syempre kung—, na 18 sets 'yan eh 18 tao 'yan. Hindi naman po ganoon talaga 'yun," he said.

(We will check if they belong to one person or two people... just because there are 18 sets doesn't mean there are 18 individuals. It's not like that.)

One of the uniforms that was seized days earlier had buttons with the initials of "P.L.A.", which authorities suspect may stand for the People's Liberation Army (PLA), the armed organization of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the principal military force of the People's Republic of China.

Yesterday, PAOCC confirmed that these were authentic PLA uniforms but were already dated

For its part, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) on Tuesday said it was likely that the uniforms were only used as props in illicit online transactions.

Authorities also found an alleged "outstanding badge" of a Chinese military sergeant in the hub. PAOCC previously said that if proven authentic, this might show that a veteran Chinese policeman or soldier was involved in the POGO hub.

When asked if these were indications of Chinese infiltration through POGOs, the undersecretary declined to comment, saying that he could only provide that the commission was investigating personalities within the POGO who were previously uniformed personnel.

"May mga ini-imbestigahan po tayo na mga sabihin na natin mga nakapaloob po, nakapalaman na mga personalities diyan sa POGO na mga dating uniformed personnel po," Cruz said.

(We are investigating what seems to be personalities within the POGO who were previously uniformed personnel.)

Cruz said they may be retired, personnel who went absent without leave, or scalawags.

Meanwhile, Cruz said that Philippine authorities have six more buildings to search in the 10-hectare compound of more than 40 buildings.

Authorities raided the hub last week and rescued over 150 victims, although they were expecting to find more people in the area. — VDV, GMA Integrated News