DOJ: Ong with Guos appear as proof of Bamban-Porac POGOs connection

The possibility of a connection between the raided Philippine offshore gaming operator (POGO) hubs in Bamban, Tarlac and Porac, Pampanga was raised by the Department of Justice after Cassandra Li Ong was found together with one of the siblings of dismissed mayor Alice Guo. 

“We found a connection between Alice Guo and Cassandra Li Ong…Which means that Bamban and Porac are closely related. And remember that despite all the denials of former secretary (Harry) Roque, it appears that they're really intimately related,” said Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla in Sareema Refran’s report in 24 Oras on Thursday.

The Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) also agreed with the DOJ’s observation.

“Matagal na naming sinasabi, na yung dalawang scam farm na ito ay magkaugnay. Pare-parehong criminal organization ang kinabibilangan nila Cassie Li Ong at tsaka ni Alice Leal Guo or Guo Hua Ping,” said PAOCC spokesperson John Casio.

(We’ve long been saying that these two scam farms are related. Cassie Li Ong and Alice Leal Guo, or Guo Hua Ping, belong to the same criminal organizations.)

Ong, who is linked to the Lucky South 99 in Pampanga, and Sheila Guo are back in the Philippines after they were intercepted in Batam, Indonesia.

The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) earlier said that it was Ong who was accompanied by former presidential spokesman Atty. Harry Roque in July 2023 to discuss Lucky South 99's  "problems" with PAGCOR's billing.

Authorities said they discovered evidence of illegal activities behind the walls of the POGO compounds in Bamban and Porac.

Meanwhile, the embattled Bamban, Tarlac mayor and his brother Wesley are still being hunted by authorities.

Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin earlier ordered the cancellation of the Philippine passports of Alice Guo, her siblings, and Ong.

But the Justice Department said that it is not simple to cancel a passport regardless of whether it was legally obtained or not.

“We cannot summarily cancel a passport because it is a document vested with rights… If the passports are cancelled immediately, then how can you make them travel back to the country?” said Remulla. “You will have to issue a travel document which should be an admission that they are Filipino citizens.”

According to the documents and intelligence reports of the government, the dismissed mayor had already been to Bali, Indonesia before she went to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia last July 18.

Guo later moved to Singapore on July 21 and stayed for almost a month. She then took a ferry back to Indonesia last August 18. —Vince Angelo Ferreras/RF, GMA Integrated News