Philippines to “tie up loose ends” in final POGO hearing Tuesday

In the Senate hearing tomorrow, Philippine lawmakers will disclose the results of their probe of Philippine Offshore Gaming Operations (POGOs).

{resident Ferdinand Marcos Jr. banned the industry in July following allegations of rampant crime, including online scams, money laundering and human trafficking, and the industry’s purported ties to China.

A key figure in the scandal, former Bamban mayor Alice Guo, will appear at the hearing. It will be helmed by Senator Risa Hontiveros of the Senate Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations and Gender Equality.

Reeling in “big fish”

“We will tie up loose ends in our last hearing,” Hontiveros said at a Kapihan sa Senado forum last week. “This includes the big fish behind the POGO operations and its interlocking directorates”.

She added, “We have gathered new information, especially regarding the presence of Chinese spies in the Philippines through POGOs”.

That may include Guo—actually a Chinese national named Guo Hua Ping. 

In 2022, she became mayor of Bamban, Tarlac province, which was also home to an expansive POGO facility.

Law enforcement raided the facility in March, following a tip about illegal activities there. Investigators found evidence suggesting the POGO was a front for online love and crypto scams. They also freed hundreds of foreign and Filipino workers. Some claimed to be victims of human trafficking, forced to work under threat of torture.

Additional POGO raids showed similar patterns of activity. On 22 July, in his third state of the nation address, Marcos condemned the industry and ordered its immediate shutdown.

International conspiracy?

According to the Daily Tribune, Guo was a Chinese “plant” whose election was orchestrated by the Chinese government.

At a POGO hearing last month, Hontiveros cited jailhouse testimony from the former cellmate of a confessed Chinese spy linked to scam sites using forced labour. Fugui Wang corroborated claims by She Zhijiang that he was associated with Guo.

Wang added that Guo was a spy, but “not a special one”.

In August, following revelations about her true identity, Guo fled the country. A month later, police found her in Indonesia, and returned her to the Philippines, where she remains in custody. Guo has denied all allegations against her.

Tomorrow, Hontiveros will reveal what the government has learned about her role, and the role of other Chinese operatives in the POGO industry.

Closing Philippines’ “policy gaps”

She will also call for stricter measures to keep POGOs from returning to the country in any form.

According to the Philippine Inquirer, the senator believes Executive Order No. 74 banning offshore and online gaming in the country is insufficient to keep illicit operations from creeping back in.

“In the next hearing, we will present the reforms to the law that need to be pushed here in the Senate”, Hontiveros said. She called out “the many irregularities and policy gaps we have observed in the proliferation of POGOs and related crimes”.