Porac mayor clueless about illegal activities in hotel operated by POGO

Porac, Pampanga Mayor Jaime Capil on Wednesday said he has never received a letter from the local Philippine National Police - Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) regarding the illegal activities in a hotel operated by the Philippine offshore gaming operator Lucky South 99 Corp.

Capil made the statement after CIDG Pampanga chief Police Major Arvin Hosmillo said that he sent the letter to the Office of Business Permit and Licensing Office on July 14, 2021, after a former employee of Royal Hotel informed the police of the illegal activities. 

“Mayroon pong walk-in informant na in-entertain po namin sa aming opisina, alleging' yung illegal activities sa Royal Hotel, which I believe ngayon ay Aramis Hotel. Accordingly, mayroon pong crypto currency investment scam, serious illegal detention, human trafficking, and illegal drug activities doon sa hotel na 'yun,” said Hosmillo during a Senate hearing. 

(We had a walk-in informant that we entertained in our office then. She alleged that there were illegal activities in the Royal Hotel, which I believe is now Aramis Hotel. Accordingly, there were crypto currency investment scam, serious illegal detention, human trafficking, and illegal drug activities in the hotel.) 

“So as part of our case build up, minabuti namin na sumulat sa LGU in order to verify and obtain documents, materials sa aming investigation.” 

(So as part of our case build-up, we decided to write a letter to the LGU in order to verify and obtain documents, materials for our investigation.) 

But Hosmillo said that they never received a reply despite the letter being received by thenoffice on July 19 of that year. 

Senator Sherwin Gatchalian questioned Capil on why the police did not receive any response. 

Capil said: “With all honesty and with due respect, wala talaga pong nakarating na letter sa akin.” 

(With all honesty and with due respect, I did not receive any letter.) 

Further, Capil confirmed to Gatchalian that there was an inspection on the hotel in 2023. But the mayor insisted that he was unaware of the illegal activities in the said establishment. 

“Mali po ‘yun, talagang wala po kaming alam na crime na nangyayari po roon [...] Continuous monitoring po ang aming police with their report na nandito, na wala talaga silang nakitang crime,” Capil claimed. 

(That’s wrong, we are not really aware of the crimes happening there [...] We had continuous monitoring by our police and they did not notice any crimes there.) 

But Gatchalian said that Capil could just be making an excuse for his failure to act immediately on the matter. 

“Ang punto namin as early as 2021, mayroon na hong red flag [...] Ginagawan ninyo na lang ng justification yung hindi ninyo ginawang trabaho,” the senator said. 

(Our point here is that there is already a red flag as early as 2021 [...] You are justifying your failure to do your task.) 

Special treatment 

Further, Gatchalian said the Porac local government unit seemed to give Lucky South 99 a “special treatment” despite its red flags. 

“Ang dami ho kaming nakikitang mga ebidensya na sa aking pananaw ay parang may special treatment itong kumpanyang ito. Parang mga hari sila,” the senator said. 

(We have seen lots of evidence which made me think that there is a special treatment to this company. They are like kings.) 

But the mayor denied giving favors to the raided POGO hub. 

“Hindi po totoo 'yan. Kahit nung January 2024, kung may special treatment lang po sila, hindi na po namin sila inisyuhan ng permit your honor. Kaya six months before the raid, wala na po silang permit sa amin,” said Capil. 

(That’s not true. Because in January 2024, if there is a special treatment, we would've issued them a permit. So six months before the raid, they didn’t have permit already.) 

The Lucky South 99 Corp. was raided by the authorities last June. 

During the raid,  more than 150 foreigners were rescued including Chinese, Malaysian, Burmese, and Vietnamese citizens. Some of those who were rescued were torture and kidnap victims. 

The continued search on the POGO hub also led to the discovery of alleged uniforms of the Chinese military. 

However, the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation said that only 1 of the 46 buildings inside the Lucky South 99 Corp. was given the permit to operate.—AOL, GMA Integrated News