PAOCC: Arrested foreigners from Lapu-Lapu POGO to undergo inquest

Some of the foreign nationals who were arrested from a Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (POGO) hub in Lapu-Lapu City, Cebu over the weekend are expected to undergo on Monday, according to the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC).

In an interview on BP Ngayon, PAOCC spokesperson Dr. Winston Casio said the arrested foreigners are under custody of authorities at the raided scam farm.

“Dalawa po ang pinagdaanang legal na proseso nila ngayong araw na ito. ‘Yung una po ‘yung tinatawag nating criminal e-inquest. Mag i-inquest na po ngayon for those to be charged criminally. Meron na po tayong mga na tukoy na i-cha-charge criminally,” Casio said.

(There are two legal processes that they will undergo today. The first one is what we call a criminal e-inquest. They will conduct an inquest for those who will be criminally charged. We already have identified individuals who will be criminally charged.)

He said the foreigners will then undergo Immigration inquest on Monday afternoon.

“Pag umayos po ‘yung panahon lilipad po natin sila through a military transport plane… most likely kung gumanda na po ang panahon malilipad natin for tomorrow diyan sa Manila,” he said.

(When the weather improves, we'll be flying them out via a military transport plane... if the weather clears up, we'll likely be flying out tomorrow from Manila.)

Casio previously said that some 150 foreigners were arrested in a gated compound in Lapu-Lapu City.

The spokesperson, however, said that the number has climbed to 169 as of Monday. Of this, he said 163 were considered arrested while six foreigners were considered to be rescued.

According to Casio, 91 were Chinese nationals, 69 were Indonesian, six were Burmese, two were Taiwanese, and one was Malaysian.

“Meron ho tayong anim na na-rescue, ito na mga Indonesian. Part po sila nung 13 na ni-request for rescue nitong Indonesian embassy. All the rest po are technically now on arrest… on suspicion that they are scam farm scammers,” Casio said.

(We have rescued six Indonesians. They were part of the 13 who the Indonesian Embassy requested for rescue. The rest are now under arrest, suspected of being scam farm scammers.)

He said they also arrested four Filipinos during the operation. Based on their interview, he said they were “remnants” of the previously raided POGO hubs in Bamban, Tarlac and Porac, Pampanga.

Most of the 169 foreigners were also from the Bamban and Porac POGO hubs, he added.

Authorities raided the Bamban POGO hub in March while they raided the Porac POGO hub in June.

Casio said they have requested warrants to search the gadget seized during the operation.

They are also drafting an order for the signature of Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin that will allow them to confiscate the 2-hectare compound and all the vehicles, according to Casio.

Asked who owned the property, he said this may belong to a family of Chinese nationals with a special retirement residency visa. Casio said that the facility has been operating since 2019.

“Dati po open to the public po ito. Ngayon bagamat nasa mga booking websites pa po siya pero sa pakikipag usap namin sa mga Pilipino na empleyado nila, ito pala ay parang naka reserve na para doon sa mga foreign nationals na nagtatrabaho sa scam farm dito,” he said.

(This was already open to the public. Although it's still listed on booking websites, according to our conversation with Filipino employees, it appears to be reserved for foreign nationals working on the scam farm here.)

According to Casio, authorities are still looking into around 300 illegal POGO hubs.

Meanwhile, he called on local government units to intensify their efforts against illegal POGO operations.

“Sana po ay mas maging maigting pa ang kanilang pagmamasid, pagmamanman, at sana ay huwag naman po sana mag bulagbulagan ‘yung iba sa mga nakikita nilang mga illegal na mga aktibidades sa loob ng kanilang mga bakuran,” Casio said.

(I hope they will be more vigilant, more watchful, and I hope they won't turn a blind eye to the illegal activities they see within their own communities.)

“Sapagkat hindi po sapat na dahilan o depensa ang sabihin nilang hindi nila alam ang nangyayari… Hindi natin pwedeng sabihin depensa na hindi natin alam ‘yan na may ganyan palang mga activities. Eh, kung nalaman po namin sa national bakit hindi po nalaman ng lokal?” he added.

(It's not a sufficient reason or defense to say they didn't know what was happening... We can't claim ignorance as a defense that we're not aware of such activities. If the national [agency] found out about it, why didn't the locals know about it?)

During his third State of the Nation Address, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said he is banning all POGOs in the country by the end of the year. — RSJ, GMA Integrated News