Cebu POGO head confirms P1-M offer to PAOCC but denies bribe try

CEBU, Philippines – Chinese national Zhao Shouqi, one of the heads of an illegal Philippine offshore gaming operator (POGO) hub discovered in Cebu, on Tuesday, September 24, confirmed that he tried to offer P1 million to the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) but denied that it was a bribery attempt.

Zhao told the Senate panel investigating POGOs in the country that his million-peso offer was mean to facilitate a “separate arrangement” for his wife and young granddaughter after the Lapu-Lapu POGO raid in late August.

To recall, authorities apprehended Zhao and more than 160 foreign nationals who were found engaging in illegal scamming activities on August 31, at the Tourist Garden Hotel in Barangay Agus, Lapu-Lapu City.

At the Senate hearing on Tuesday, Senator Risa Hontiveros asked Zhao to confirm reports that the Lapu-Lapu POGO operators tried to bribe personnel from the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC), and that her granddaughter, who acted as the interpreter, was caught on camera asking law enforcers, “Can we fix this?”

“This sum of money is not actually a bribe,” Zhao replied through an interpreter.

Zhao explained that his 70-year-old wife “who had a weak body” and his granddaughter, a minor, were at the hotel during the August 31 operation and he wanted a “separate arrangement” for them.

Zhao confirmed during the hearing that the P1 million came from his son, Zhao Long, identified as one of the chief operators of the Lucky South 99 POGO hub in Porac, Pampanga.

No other way to look at it

Hontiveros scoffed at the insistence of Zhao that the P1 million was not a bribe and asked PAOCC spokesperson Winston Casio about it.

“There is no other way to interpret that because they attempted three times,” Casio replied.

Zhao, however, insisted that there was no attempt to bribe PAOCC. This time, he explained that he was merely transferring the money to government personnel for “safekeeping.”

To this, Hontiveros said, “That’s what we call a bribe, offering money to Philippine government personnel who are perfectly capable of being humanitarian to a senior citizen, or minor, in exchange for special consideration.”

When asked if he had bribed other government officials in the past, Zhao said that he did not and that he only “sponsored” some activities in the form of donations of computer sets and food since he owned a restaurant.

Zhao and his son are known heads of the Lapu-Lapu City Philippines Tourism Ethnic Chinese Guild, an organization which has donated multiple computer sets, solar panels, and personal protective equipment (PPE) to Lapu-Lapu City since 2019.

Hontiveros cited the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act which has provisions on government officials “not accepting under very improper circumstances.”

No idea about POGO?

Zhao also denied having any knowledge about the illegal scamming operations that were happening in the Tourist Garden Hotel.

“I am actually not aware that they are doing this POGO business…. On July 20, I was actually sick and never got down of my place or my bedroom and I was just surprised that on July 31, that they were looking for me and I was just wearing my sleeping wear,” Zhao said through an interpreter.

An affidavit from one of the administrators of the Lucky South 99 POGO affirmed that their scamming operations in Porac transferred to Cebu City some time on June 8 or 9. The same affidavit stated that they moved foreign nationals to the Tourist Garden Hotel on August 2.

During the hearing, Hontiveros asked Zhao Long if he knew Cassandra Ong and Alice Guo who were also in attendance, and he said he did not know either of them. – Rappler.com