Foreign nationals arrested at a suspected POGO hub in Lapu-Lapu City, Cebu, were to undergo criminal e-inquest and Immigration inquest proceedings, the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission said on September 2, 2024. PAOCC spokesperson Winston Casio said the arrested foreigners were in the custody of authorities at the raided scam farm1.
Casio said the number of foreigners had climbed to 169 as of that Monday, up from an earlier figure of about 150. Of the 169, 163 were considered arrested and six were considered rescued1. The breakdown he gave was 91 Chinese nationals, 69 Indonesians, six Burmese, two Taiwanese and one Malaysian1. A later report on the transfer of the group gave a slightly different breakdown: 93 Chinese, 69 Indonesians, six Myanmarese (or Burmese) and one Malaysian2. Four Filipinos were also arrested during the operation, and Casio said they were "remnants" of the previously raided POGO hubs in Bamban, Tarlac and Porac, Pampanga1.
"We have rescued six Indonesians. They were part of the 13 who the Indonesian Embassy requested for rescue"
On September 4, 2024, the 169 foreigners were taken on board a C130 plane at around 2 p.m. from the Mactan Benito Ebuen Air Base, bound for the PAOCC office in Manila2. Jamar Matugas, head of the Bureau of Immigration Regional Intelligence Operations Unit 7, said all 169 went through inquest proceedings for violation of immigration laws, conducted online through the National Prosecution Service of the Department of Justice in Manila, along with inquest prosecution by the Task Force on Children and Anti-Trafficking Cases2. Earlier, 16 of them went through an inquest proceeding on charges of qualified trafficking in persons: 13 Chinese nationals, two Indonesians and one Myanmarese2.
| Detail | Figure |
|---|---|
| Foreigners in the operation | 169 (163 arrested, 6 rescued)1 |
| Chinese nationals | 911 / 932 |
| Indonesian nationals | 691 |
| Burmese or Myanmarese | 61 |
| Taiwanese | 21 |
| Malaysian | 11 |
| Filipinos arrested | 41 |
| Charged with qualified trafficking in persons | 162 |
The facility had been operating since 2019, according to Casio, who said it may belong to a family of Chinese nationals with a special retirement residency visa1. He said authorities were drafting an order for the signature of Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin to confiscate the 2-hectare compound and all the vehicles, and had requested warrants to search seized gadgets1. A digital forensic examination was to be done on computers and gadgets seized inside the hotel, and the NBI head office ordered a case build-up for possible money laundering2. A Filipino who worked at the resort took the passports of 51 arrested foreigners and is charged as an accessory to trafficking in persons2. Authorities are still looking into around 300 illegal POGO hubs, Casio said1.
What it means for players
The Philippines is banning all POGOs by the end of the year, a measure President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. announced during his third State of the Nation Address1. The Lapu-Lapu case sits inside that wider crackdown, and the charges involved are trafficking in persons and immigration violations rather than gambling offenses. For anyone in the country, the practical point is that the venues being raided are unlicensed operations, and the people inside them are treated as suspects or as trafficking victims, not as customers. The NBI said the evidence pointed to POGO operations alongside love scams and investment scams2. People who encounter such sites or compounds can read more on gambling scams and safety in Asia, and on what is legal in the Philippine market.
What happens next
Those charged must face the charges filed against them before they can be deported, according to NBI 7 director Renan Augustus Oliva2. The digital forensic examination of seized computers and gadgets, the possible money laundering case build-up, and the move to confiscate the compound and vehicles were all pending as of the reports1.
