Philippine National Police chief Gen. Rommel Francisco Marbil said on Monday that there were killings at Philippine offshore gaming operator (Pogo) hubs recently raided in the Central Luzon region that were not properly investigated, and that the undisclosed deaths were among the reasons police officials in Tarlac and Pampanga were relieved1.
Speaking at a press conference, Marbil gave no details of the deaths. He said the Pampanga provincial police chief, Col. Levi Hope Basilio, and the Porac municipal police chief, Lt. Col. Palmyra Guardaya, were relieved from their posts early this month to give way to the investigation into the alleged illegal operation of a sprawling Pogo complex in Porac1. In Tarlac, the entire police force of Bamban town was relieved last month following the March 14 raid of the Pogo operation there and the ensuing investigation into its links to Alice Guo1.
"There were killings there that were not properly investigated. It's not normal. Why were there foreigners who were killed there?"
Marbil said he would not consider the relieved personnel "protectors" of Pogos, and pointed to an integrity monitoring group checking on police. "What we are after is the inefficiency of our police. Why are these incidents not investigated and reported to the headquarters?" he said1.
Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian, who inspected the fenced Lucky South 99 compound in Porac on Monday with Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) officials, said he would ask the Department of the Interior and Local Government to suspend and investigate Porac Mayor Jaime Capil for allowing the illegal operation of what he called "the largest" Pogo enterprise within his jurisdiction1. Gatchalian said it was "simply impossible that 2,000 foreigners are coming in and going out" of the area without the mayor knowing, and that Capil's statement that he was not allowed to enter the premises should itself have been a red flag1. The Inquirer said it contacted Capil for comment and that he had not replied as of Monday night. Capil said earlier that the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. failed to monitor Lucky South 99, and that he did not issue a business permit to the Pogo enterprise because of its noncompliance with the fire code1.
The inspection team found KTV bars, Chinese military uniforms, a sex den, a torture room and equipment used for online scams at the Porac site1. Separately, the PAOCC said documents recovered from the Pogo hubs raided in Tarlac and Pampanga would prove that Guo was an "enabler" of their human trafficking and scamming operations1. PAOCC spokesperson Winston John Casio cited Pagcor documents pointing to Guo's role in Baofu Land Development Inc., the listed lessor of the Pogo hub beside Bamban's municipal hall, and to the Lucky South 99 operations in Porac. Casio said two people already charged by the agency, Zhang Ruijin and Baoying Lin, are Guo's business partners and are detained in Singapore over what he described as the biggest money laundering case in that country, and that a third suspect, Huang Zhiyang, is listed as an incorporator, operator and manager of the Sun Valley Pogo hub in Clark Freeport in Pampanga1.
What it means for players
The killings described by the PNP chief relate to the raided Pogo hubs in Porac and Bamban, not to licensed retail gambling. The sites named in the case are linked to offshore-facing operations that Philippine authorities have treated as illegal, and the allegations attached to them include human trafficking and online scams1. For anyone gambling in the Philippines, the practical point is that the enforcement focus is on unlicensed offshore operations and the police and local officials accused of failing to police them, while the country's regulated venues are a separate matter. Details of how the killings were handled, how many deaths are involved and who the victims were have not been reported1. General guidance on identifying fake sites and scam operations, and on where to report them, is set out in our guide to gambling scams and safety in Asia, and the licensing picture for the country is covered in Can I gamble in the Philippines?.
What happens next
Gatchalian said he would ask the DILG to suspend and investigate Porac Mayor Jaime Capil1. The PAOCC said it would file more criminal cases against Guo and her alleged associates before the Department of Justice1. The Senate is separately investigating the identity of the suspended Bamban mayor1. No dates for those steps were reported1.
Sources1 sources
- PNP confirms killings in raided Pogo hubs, newsinfo.inquirer.net
