House transfers Cassandra Ong to Women's Correctional facility

Cassandra Ong, the documented representative of Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (POGO) Lucky South 99, has been transferred to the Correctional Institution for Women (CIW) in Mandaluyong City, House Secretary General Reginald Velasco said on Thursday.

Velasco made the confirmation after Ong was cited for contempt by the House Quad Committee probing POGO-linked crimes last September 19. The citation was Ong’s second, this time for allegedly lying about her school records.

“Yesterday po nalipat si Miss Cassandra Ong sa Correctional from the House of Representatives [detention],” Velasco told GMA News Online in a Viber message.

Ong was cited in contempt after she told lawmakers that she could not remember her educational background in response to a question from Abang Lingkod party-list Rep. Joseph Stephen Aduano if she indeed completed school by Alternative Learning System (ALS) in 2016 or 2017.

The 24-year old Ong said she could not recall the name of the public school where she allegedly enrolled for ALS, telling the panel that she "forgot" the details.

Ong has earlier denied involvement in POGO activities, insisting that she is only a 58% owner of Whirlwind Corporation, the firm which owns the land and leases part of said land to Lucky South 99.

She has refused to answer lawmakers questions on how much she earned as part of Whirlwind Corporation and whether she filed income tax returns.

Ong earlier denied that she is a front for other individuals as questions arose over the amounts of money that she apparently handled

Meanwhile, Ong’s legal counsel Ferdinand Topacio decried his client’s transfer from the House to the Mandaluyong detention facility.

"We view with much concern the precipitate transfer of Ms. Cassandra Li Ong by the House QuadCom.There are serious legal questions as to whether or not the Legislature can order the commitment of Ms. Ong in a facility run by the Executive Branch for a particular purpose,” Topacio said in a statement.

The lawyer said Ong was merely invoking her Constitutional rights.

“We are alarmed by pressure being brought to bear by the QuadCom to have Ms. Ong mingled with convicted prisoners in the CIW, in violation of certain laws, specifically the Constitutional presumption of innocence,the prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment, and the freedom from arbitrary imprisonment contained in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, as well as the proscription against the commingling of persons not yet found guilty with those already convicted, as found in Article 10 of the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights,” Topacio added.

However, Topacio earlier said Ong would rather be jailed in the CIW than be humiliated in legislative proceedings.

In a joint statement by Paduano, Surigao del Norte lawmaker Ace Barbers, Manila Representative Bienvenido “Benny” Abante, , Laguna lawmaker Dan Fernandez and Antipolo Representative Romeo Acop, the House leaders leading the probe on POGO-linked crimes said Ong’s transfer to CIW is legal and warranted.

"Ms. Ong's transfer to the Correctional Institute for Women is part of the legal process, and her well-being is a priority. The authorities have made sure that her transfer was conducted safely and with respect for her rights," the statement said.

"Her counsel’s statements have no basis. Legislative inquiries are designed to seek the truth and uphold justice, not to manipulate the outcome," it added.

In another text message to GMA News Online, Barbers added that “It was Cassandra and her lawyers who said they’d rather be jailed in prison than in Congress.”—RF, GMA Integrated News