黑料社

MANILA, Philippines 鈥� The Senate panel on women has recommended the filing of criminal charges against Tony Yang, Sual Mayor Lisandro Calugay, as well as all public officials 鈥渋nvolved鈥� in illegal activities related to Philippine offshore gaming operators (Pogos) and the 鈥減rotection鈥� of dismissed Bamban mayor Alice Guo, otherwise known as Guo Hua Ping.

Panel head Sen. Risa Hontiveros made this revelation in her sponsorship of Committee Report No. 514 during the upper chamber鈥檚 Tuesday plenary session.

According to her, the report specifically laid out the 鈥渕ultifarious and nefarious schemes that Pogoss used to infiltrate the Philippines鈥� and therefore recommends ways forward to address 鈥渢he many vulnerabilities revealed by this problem.鈥�

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She enumerated some of these recommendations as follows:

• for the relevant authorities to file criminal cases under Republic Act No. 3019 and other related laws against public officials involved in illegal activities related to Pogos and in the protection of Guo, including Sual Mayor Calugay and the government employees in his staff;
• for the relevant authorities to file criminal cases against Tony Yang in relation to his obtainment and use of fraudulent Filipino identity and to deepen preliminary information received on the possible intelligence work of Michael Yang, and possibly Tony Yang and Hongjiang Yang, for a foreign state;
• for the relevant authorities to file cases of Economic Sabotage under the Anti-Financial Account Scamming Act against those apprehended in Pogo-related raids after July 2024 or the passage of Republic Act No. 12010;
• to direct the Department of Foreign Affairs to continue efforts to reach out to She Zhijiang through the Thai authorities in order to get more information on Guo Hua Ping鈥檚 possible involvement in espionage and malign foreign influence;
• to request the Executive to clarify Executive Order No. 74, particularly its section which states: 鈥淭his definition excludes online games of chance conducted in Pagcor-operated casinos, licensed casinos, or integrated resorts with junket agreements鈥�;
• to direct the Bureau of Immigration to immediately report to the Senate the reforms implemented in order to address not just the escape of Guo Hua Ping, but the reported involvement of BI personnel in the inbound trafficking of Pogo workers and the outbound trafficking of Filipinos to work in scam compounds abroad
• to streamline the issuance of visas by different authorities and to have a single database similar to Homeland Security in the United States of America where all visa information for individuals seeking to enter the country is stored and accessible by relevant authorities, allowing for a unified view of a traveler鈥檚 visa history and his or her potential security risks.
• to urgently enact a law totally banning offshore gaming entities and activities, and all kinds of service providers, providing harsh penalties for public officers who aid and abet Pogos

In her speech, Hontiveros recalled how Pogos have affected the lives of many Filipinos.

She particularly emphasized that the rigorous investigations that her panel conducted only revealed how Pogos took advantage of the country鈥檚 鈥渨eak systems and abused our laws,鈥� particularly that on civil registration, visas, incorporation of companies, and even our electoral system.

But despite this, the opposition lawmaker emphasized that the 鈥渆vil elements of Pogos鈥� are still within the country.

She said other legal entities and avenues 鈥渞emain in jeopardy鈥� because these act as a Trojan horse concealing Pogos.

She enumerated these as follows:

• special class of BPOs
• similar businesses under special economic zones
• Pogos that may be operated by casinos or integrated resorts licensed by Pagcor

But apart from these, she noted that erring 鈥淧ogo individuals鈥� continue to roam the Philippines freely.

鈥淔or example, this is Wan Kuok-Koi, alias 鈥淏roken Tooth鈥濃�攚ho is widely reported to be one of Asia鈥檚 most notorious gangsters and recognized as the leader of the 14k Triad. His crimes involve illegal gambling, loan-sharking, corruption related to casinos, and allegedly even attempted murder. He is famous for the so-called 鈥榩ig-butchering鈥� scam, which was also found to be a trend among Pogos here,鈥� she said.

鈥淎nd next to Broken Tooth is none other than Li Duan Wang, the Chinese national who is applying to become a Filipino junket operator and another businessman involved in gambling,鈥� she added.

President Ferdinand Marcos, during his third State of the Nation Address in July, ordered the ban of all Pogos in the Philippines. He then subsequently ordered Pagcor to wind down and seize the operations of these firms by the end of 2024.

But since Marcos ordered the ban, reports have come in that Pogo hubs have begun resorting to various ways how they can conceal their operations. Some even pretend to be business process outsourcing (BPO) firms.