3-7-2024 (MANILA) In the wake of recent revelations surrounding Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGOs), Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian has urged suspended Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo, or Guo Hua Ping, to cooperate with authorities and reveal crucial information about the activities and key players involved in these operations.
“Guo can play a crucial role in exposing the truth and ensuring that those involved are held accountable,” Gatchalian stated. “I urge Alice Guo to come forward and cooperate with authorities and expose the main players of illegal and criminal offshore gaming operations.”
Gatchalian further emphasized that to reduce her culpability, Guo could reveal everything she knows about the operations of both the Bamban POGO and the Porac POGO, as the two are interconnected.
Guo, along with others, has been charged with non-bailable qualified human trafficking by the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC). The Office of the Solicitor General is also considering filing a quo warranto case, while the Commission on Elections is mulling an election offense case against her.
At the House of Representatives, Cagayan de Oro 2nd District Rep. Rufus Rodriguez vowed to thoroughly probe alleged anomalies within POGOs, where former and current government officials may have been involved.
“The government does not need this form of gambling as a revenue source. They breed criminal activities like human trafficking, kidnapping, protection and extortion. The social cost outweighs the financial benefit,” Rodriguez emphasized.
He called on the House committees on games and amusements and good government and public accountability to conduct a joint inquiry and look into the alleged lobbying and protection for POGOs by officials, both appointed and elected.
Rodriguez’s call came in response to the revelation of Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (PAGCOR) chairman and CEO Alejandro Tengco that a former Cabinet member had lobbied for the grant of franchises to illegal POGOs that authorities recently raided in Bamban, Tarlac and Porac, Pampanga.
“We are also ready to reveal the roles of other controversial individuals behind these criminal POGO enterprises,” Tengco said, referring to the role of former officials and conduits in granting licenses to POGO applicants with doubtful backgrounds.
Rodriguez stated that his proposed House inquiry would provide Tengco the proper forum to make his revelations and support them with evidence.
