MANILA, Philippines – The fourth day of the House inquiry into the criminal activities surrounding Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGOs) dragged on for six hours on Wednesday, August 7.
In that latest proceeding, one POGO officer was ordered detained, other alleged POGO hub incorporators were threatened with contempt citations, and a former presidential spokesman continued to face questions on his supposed POGO ties.
Rappler breaks down some of the highlights of Wednesday’s hearing.
Raided POGO firm’s ranking officer cited in contempt
Ronelyn Baterna, corporate secretary of raided Porac, Pampanga POGO Lucky South 99, drew the ire of lawmakers who believe she was lying under oath, resulting in a contempt citation and 30-day detention in the House of Representatives.
She initially said that the legal counsel accompanying her to the hearing was someone she contacted in a personal capacity, but the lawyer later said that Baterna reached out to her as corporate secretary of Lucky South 99. For lawmakers, it seemed like Baterna was caught red-handed for trying to minimize her role in the company.
Baterna, who said she didn’t know the owners of the firm, had claimed to be a mere employee promoted by HR to the corporate secretary position just to sign documents.
“I didn’t know anything about the [documents] I signed,” Baterna said.
“The resource persons are making us look stupid,” Bulacan 2nd District Representative Augustina Pancho said.
Other documented officers of Lucky South 99 claim identity theft
Other documented officers of Lucky South 99 — Julian Linsangan, Edwin Ang, and Marion Ryan Chua — also graced Wednesday’s hearing, and had to grapple with threats of contempt citation by Manila 6th District Representative Bienvenido Abante.
The three insisted that they were just employees of companies selling either fireworks or appliances, and never worked for the POGO firm that was found to have trafficked and tortured workers.
Linsangan said they were victims of identity theft, which started after he and his two friends met in 2023 a certain Dan dela Cruz — a customer of Chua’s salted dried fish online business since 2019. Dela Cruz supposedly offered them a chance to be a part of an online gaming business he was building for an initial investment totaling P1.5 million.
Chua said while they didn’t have the money, the offer piqued their interest, prompting them to submit their documents to the man whom they later lost contact with.
The three insisted the signatures in government documents linking them to Lucky South 99 were forged, and denied knowing Baterna.
Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission spokesman Winston Casio, however, told lawmakers they weren’t buying the three men’s story, and said PAOCC will not withdraw its recommendation to file charges against them.
Roque again in hot seat, interrogated over links to Lucky South 99
The second House hearing that Roque attended was more or less similar to the scenes during his first appearance, with Lanao del Sur 1st District Representative Zia Alonto Adiong leading the charge against the spokesperson of the Rodrigo Duterte administration.
Roque had been a lawyer for real estate firm Whirlwind in August 2023 for an ejectment case. The company was connected to Lucky South 99 because it leased its land to the POGO firm. Roque was also hired for Whirlwind by Cassy Li Ong, who is Lucky South 99’s representative to the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (Pagcor).
Roque later accompanied Ong to a meeting with Pagcor over Lucky South 99’s remittances, even though he insists to this day that he never lawyered for that firm. But Pagcor chief Alejandro Tengco said the discussion during that meeting never touched upon Whirlwind, because Pagcor had no relationship with Whirlwind.
“Although I represented an agent of Lucky South, that did not make Lucky South my client,” Roque asserted, saying that he went to the meeting to ensure that Ong would be entertained, since she supposedly only became the firm’s representative to Pagcor a month after that meeting.
“If we follow your logic and your justification that you are exclusively limiting your services to this particular case that you have filed involving eviction cases, why did you have to go to Pagcor’s meeting and then make some follow-ups?” Adiong pointed out. “He may not necessarily be hired directly by Lucky South 99, but his efforts went beyond overboard, beyond his call of duty.”
Batangas congresswoman argues Duterte-era EO encroached on Congress’ legislative powers
Roque’s interrogator in the first hearing on July 31 was again a proactive participant of the latest hearing on POGOs.
Batangas 2nd District Representative Gerville Luistro said she believes Executive Order 13 which was issued by Duterte in 2017 infringed upon the powers of Congress to legislate.
EO 13 clarifies the extent of authority that gambling regulators have over online gambling/gaming operators.
“When the President issued EO 13, providing for the term online gaming for the very first time, don’t you think that the President legislated?” Luistro asked Roque, who answered that he’s not familiar with the document, and that’s it’s not his area of expertise.
“I humbly submit that EO 13 brings online gambling into life, and I do not understand why this should circumvent the law that was passed by Congress creating the Pagcor and providing the authorities to regulate all the gaming and gambling activities,” Luistro added.
Police official clarifies relief of CIDG-NCR chief after successful POGO raid
PAOCC and CIDG conducted a successful raid on Zun Yuan POGO hub in Bamban, Tarlac in March, yet, a month later, the chief of Criminal Investigation Detection Group in the National Capital Region (CIDG-NCR), Colonel George Buyacao, was relieved of his post.
His exit was a result of the April 17 memo written by Police Brigadier General Matthew Baccay, then-OIC of the Directorate for Personal and Records Management.
Bacay told lawmakers that the order came from then-newly installed Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Rommel Francisco Marbil.
“Usually, the post is given to the choice of the chief PNP,” he said. “It has nothing to with the operations in Bamban led by Colonel Buyacao a month before.”
Buyacao said he was not surprised by the order.
“[Former PNP chief] Benjamin Acorda, who installed me in that post, was no longer in the PNP, so I expected that to happen,” Buyacao told lawmakers. “In the past, chiefs in the NCR are placed by the PNP.”
Santa Rosa, Laguna Representative Dan Fernandez asked Buyacao if he felt bitter following the order, to which the police officer answered in the affirmative.
“You get demoralized because you had a successful operation, and then you would abruptly be removed,” Fernandez said. “I hope that is not the procedure in the PNP.”
The House hearing on POGOs resumes on August 15, but the “quad comm” composed of four panels will take over the investigation. – Rappler.com