POGO legal cover for human trafficking?
The resolution stemmed from an alleged spike of Chinese students using ‘questionable entry credentials’ in Cagayan
Senator Risa Hontiveros lamented yesterday that scamming syndicates are using the Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (POGO) operations as legal cover for their human trafficking activities.
Hontiveros led the Senate panel’s inspection of a recently raided POGO firm in Bamban, Tarlac due to human trafficking and serious illegal detention cases.
The Philippine Anti-Organized Crime Commission informed the Senate that six Chinese fugitives were found on the premises of Zun Yuan Technology, Inc. — all of whom were running love scams and cryptocurrency investment swindling inside the raided compound.
“POGOs are a hotspot of fugitives. A den of criminals. I don’t understand why until now, this industry can’t be expelled completely. Who is their protector? Why is it so hard for the government to act?” Hontiveros said.
She noted that the POGO hub in Bamban was similar to other scam facilities that were previously raided by the authorities — which also had offices outfitted with computer workstations, along with instructional guides and scripts used to conduct love scams and crypto schemes.
She said rows of iPhones and Android smartphones hanging on metal racks were also found, together with numerous SIM cards, presumably used to execute fraudulent transactions.
“These syndicates of scammer are utilizing POGO as their legal cover,” she stressed.
Hontiveros said the government should not welcome POGO operations in the country as these promote gambling that would “worsen the ills of our society.”
Hontiveros filed Senate Resolution No. 1001 seeking to investigate the national security implications of foreigners using falsified documents to pose as Filipino. The deputy minority leader cited how findings of the Senate Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations and Gender Equality revealed that the Visa Upon Arrival scheme was abused by Chinese POGO workers who wanted to enter the Philippines unchecked.
Hontiveros urged the Senate Committee on National Defense and Security “to focus the probe on the presence of foreigners in areas of the country critical to our national defense.”
The resolution stemmed from an alleged spike of Chinese students using “questionable entry credentials” in Cagayan.
Hontiveros stressed that it is only normal for the Philippine government to be alarmed by this reported influx, especially amid China’s heightened aggression in the West Philippine Sea.
“Maybe it is not wrong to have doubts about this. I have led countless Senate inquiries that revealed how foreigners not only abuse our immigration processes but also use fake documents to obtain birth certificates and Philippine passports. It is only natural that we look into if this trend is, in any way, related to Chinese harassment in the West Philippine Sea,” she noted.