Acorda amid POGO allegations: I love country, PNP

ICYMI: Dating PNP Chief Benjamin Acorda, Jr., nabanggit sa pagdinig ng Senado, kaugnay ng iligal na operasyon ng POGO. pic.twitter.com/dPH7GXibyu

— DZBB Super Radyo (@dzbb) September 25, 2024

Former Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Benjamin Acorda has issued a brief comment after photos showing him with photos with businessman Tony Yang surfaced during a Senate hearing on illegal POGO hubs in the country.

"Masasabi ko lang, I love my country and the PNP organization. Kung ano'ng dapat gawin ng isang Pilipino at bilang police officer ay ginawa ko,” Acorda said in a statement to reporters.

(I can only say, I love my country and the PNP organization. I did what a Filipino and a police officer should do.)

During the continuation of the Senate investigation into illegal POGO hubs on Tuesday, Deputy Minority Leader Risa Hontiveros showed photos of Tony Yang with three men.

Tony Yang—brother of Michael Yang, who is an economic adviser to former president Rodrigo Duterte—identified one of the three men as Acorda.

"This photo is not actually a meeting. It's just us visiting the head of police in Cagayan during that time who is seated in the center... So my English is not very fluent but I call him Acola or Acoda," Tony Yang said as translated.

Hontiveros and Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Estrada affirmed that the photo was taken when Acorda was still a police regional director in Northern Mindanao.

Asked if he knew Acorda for a long time already, Tony Yang said, "When he was still in Cagayan, we know each other."

Tony Yang said they have opportunities to meet these PNP officials, especially when they need help for the "safety of their community."

The Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) said Tony Yang was allegedly in a transaction with dismissed Bamban, Tarlac mayor Alice Guo during the height of POGO operations in her town.

In a previous Senate hearing, PAGCOR senior vice president Raul Villanueva said they had received reports that a former PNP chief was part of Guo's "monthly payroll.” Allegedly, the former PNP chief also had helped Guo leave the country, he added.

However, Villanueva said the information was still being verified. Guo also had denied the allegations.

Guo is facing charges for graft, qualified human trafficking, money laundering, and tax evasion. She is currently detained at the Pasig City Jail.

Meanwhile, Tony Yang was arrested for being an undesirable alien. He is now under the custody of PAOCC. — Joviland Rita/RSJ, GMA Integrated News