Gatchalian wants POGO 'big boss' in next Senate hearing

Senator Sherwin Gatchalian on Tuesday said that he wants Lin Xunhan, the alleged “big boss” or "kingpin" of illegal Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs) in the country, to be present in the next Senate hearing on the matter.

"I requested the committee to invite him para diretso nating matanong siya (so we can directly ask him questions)," Gatchalian said in an ambush interview.

"Itong si 'Boss Boga', nahuli, si Mr. Lin, marami siyang revelations about 'yung POGO sa Bamban and how si Guo Hua Ping is related to him and to the POGO operations. So, ako, personally gusto kong matingnan yan dahil "big boss" siya e," he added.

(This "Boss Boga" or Mr. Lin, has many revelations about the POGO in Bamban and how Guo Hua Ping is related to him and to the POGO operations. So, I personally want to ask him because he is the big boss.)

Gatchalian said he believes that these "big bosses" are "interconnected" to other POGO hubs across the country.

"So gusto ko ring malaman kung ano pa 'yung mga POGO hubs na connected sa kanya at sino pa yung mga taong nasa likod," he said.

(I want to know what the POGO hubs that are connected to him and who his cohorts are.)

Lin, also known as Lyu Dong, Boss Boga, Boss Apao, or Boss Bahaw, was arrested at a residential subdivision in Laguna on October 10.

One of the individuals who formerly worked for Lin saw dismissed Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo transacting with their boss. The witness said they knew Guo as “Madam Wah.”

Guo’s lawyer also denied the allegations.

“Wala. Hindi niya kilala. Sabi niya sa akin hindi niya kilala,” Guo’s lawyer Atty. Stephen David.

(Nothing. She doesn't know him. She told me she didn't know him.)

Guo, who is at the center of the Senate investigation on POGOs, is facing a qualified human trafficking case before a Pasig court as well as a graft case before a Valenzuela court.

A quo warranto petition was also filed against Guo with a Manila court, as well as a petition to cancel her birth certificate before a Tarlac court.

She is also facing a tax evasion complaint, 87 counts for money laundering, and a perjury and falsification complaint before the DOJ. —VAL, GMA Integrated News