PRESIDENTIAL ANTI-ORGANIZED CRIME COMMISSIONTWENTY foreign nationals apprehended last week at a Philippine offshore gaming operator (POGO) hub in Parañaque City are now facing complaints for qualified trafficking, the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) said on Monday.
“We have already subjected the foreign nationals operating the POGO hub here at the Parañaque Integrated Terminal Exchange (PITX) to inquest proceedings,” Undersecretary Gilbert DC. Cruz told reporters in Filipino.
“We have filed cases against 20 foreign nationals, and we have also gathered complainants. Additionally, we have witnesses, including three Vietnamese nationals who were actually workers at the POGO,” he added.
The arrested foreign nationals are facing qualified trafficking complaints because “they were the ones facilitating operations,” PAOCC said noting they committed multiple violations including presenting incomplete documents.
Apart from foreigners, there are also two Filipinas facing inquest proceedings.
Mr. Cruz said they were also working in the POGO hub, and they pointed out the bosses who ran the illegal gaming operations.
Last Thursday, PAOCC raided the ATI building in front of PITX, arresting at least 453 individuals, including 137 Chinese nationals, amid President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr.’s total POGO ban directive.
PAOCC reported that 319 of the individuals arrested inside the building were Filipinos.
Additionally, those taken into custody included three Vietnamese, two Malaysians, two Thais, an Indonesian, and a Taiwanese.
During his third State of the Nation Address in July last year, Mr. Marcos ordered a total ban on POGOs, citing their involvement in illicit activities such as financial scamming, money laundering, prostitution, human trafficking, kidnapping, torture, and even murder.
Under Executive Order No. 75, signed by the President on Nov. 5, all POGOs, including “internet gaming licensees,” were mandated to cease operations by Dec. 31 last year. — Chloe Mari A. Hufana
