MANILA, Philippines – After months of inquiry, the Senate hearing on illegal Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGOs) ended on Tuesday, November 26.

The probe’s main star, dismissed mayor Alice Guo, was unfortunately absent due to a conflict in schedule. The Pasig City Regional Trial Court Branch 167 did not grant the Senate’s request to allow Guo to attend the legislative hearing as the dismissed official was also scheduled to appear before the court at the same time as the inquiry.

Despite this, the hearing still pushed through, with some key figures in the POGO probe like Shiela Guo, the dismissed mayor’s alleged sister, and Tony Yang, the brother of Michael Yang, in attendance. The two were also implicated in the probe like Guo.

In the final inquiry, the Senate women’s committee chairperson Senator Risa Hontiveros made sense of the extent of alleged Chinese operations in the country. Hontiveros cited the findings and talked to retired rear admiral Rommel Ong, who studied how POGO operations and disinformation networks are intertwined with each other.

“Nagimbal din ako sa impormasyon (I was also shocked by the information) which confirms some of my earlier theories that scam cities are used to sow disinformation campaigns to influence hearts and minds. Mukhang hindi lang sugal, scam, at trafficking ang pakay ng mga compound na ito, kundi fake news din (It seems these compounds not only cater to illegal gambling, scamming, and trafficking, but also disinformation),” the senator said.

Hontiveros also doubled down on her earlier theory that Guo might be involved in alleged espionage. National Intelligence Coordinating Agency Deputy Director General Francisco “Ashley” Acedillo said that Guo could be considered an “agent of influence,” but clarified that there is no law or any convention in the country that defines the said term.

“There are several ways to define an agent of influence. What is applicable on the part of Ms. Go Hua Ping is that she uses her influence, her stature, or her position to influence public opinion or decision-making to produce results beneficial to the country whose services they benefit from,” Acedillo explained.

“So, to that effect, Madam Chair, that is applicable to her and therefore, she may be classified as such. Although we would like to acknowledge that there is no law currently that defines it as such. However, intelligence and counterintelligence convention, which falls under our purview, recognizes that convention, Madam Chair,” he added.

Amid the probe into POGOs, alleged criminal She Zhijiang agreed to be interviewed by the news team of international news group Al Jazeera, where he revealed that he is actually a Chinese spy, recruited by China in 2016 in the Philippines. He also claimed that Guo was allegedly his fellow spy.

Still no answer on how Guo left PH

The Senate POGO hearing did not only reveal how crimes like trafficking are incorporated into POGO operations, but also showed how local officials are allegedly involved in the scheme like Guo, the former mayor of Bamban, Tarlac. She was the main focus of the probe for months as her case showed how people in power used their mandate to allegedly allow illegal activities in POGO hubs.

On top of these, Guo’s case also showed the problem of accountability in the Philippines after she successfully left the country despite the ongoing investigation into her activities. As the Senate wrapped up its inquiry, Hontiveros asked the Bureau of Immigration (BI) about Guo’s earlier escape.

“Unfortunately at this point, we cannot say with finality how she was able to depart from the Philippines. But the Bureau of Immigration commits to continue on the investigation and continue coordinating with other concerned agencies in the Philippines and other immigration officials from other countries,” BI Commissioner Joel Anthony Viado said.

Viado added that the bureau had already asked its foreign counterparts and is now awaiting more information about the escape of the Guo siblings.

Back in August, Shiela said they fled the country by boat, which was also the claim of the dismissed mayor when she faced the Senate weeks later. However, the BI dispelled these claims just last month and said the Guos escaped via air, and not by sea.

Guo’s escape became the trigger for President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to fire his first immigration chief, Norman Tansingco, and replace him with Viado.

What’s next?

Now that the probe has ended, the Hontiveros-led panel is expected to submit its findings via a committee report. After all, legislative inquiries are done in aid of legislation, either to add to, or improve on, the country’s existing laws.

Even if the committee has yet to submit its report, the probe has already produced some results, like the discovery of more people allegedly involved in the scheme, and the filing of necessary complaints against Guo. On top of trafficking, the dismissed mayor also faces a pile of suits like money laundering and a quo warranto petition under the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG).

How about for the other agencies concerned?

The Securities and Exchange Commission, which is tasked to oversee corporate registration, said it is now implementing more stringent rules in corporate applications.

Meanwhile, Philippine Statistics Authority Assistant National Statistician Marizza Grande said that apart from their probe into illegally obtained birth certificates, the PSA also blocked 100,720 birth certificates and civil registry documents. Of this number, 1,627 were birth certificates of foreigners, said Grande.

“1,464 of these records have been endorsed to OSG for the filing of the petition for cancellation. So, ‘yong isa na case nga po dito na na-file na namin with OSG, ito ‘yong cancellation ng birth certificate ng (one of the cases we filed with the OSG was the cancellation of the birth certificate of) former mayor Alice Guo. So that’s one of the immediate actions that we did. And currently we’re having data sharing with DFA [Department of Foreign Affairs], NBI [National Bureau of Investigation], and BI for those records that we have been blocking,” the PSA official explained.

Marcos has also already issued his executive order that officially bans POGOs of all sorts in the country. But despite these changes, operators behind these businesses appear to find ways to circumvent the government’s current policies and still exist despite the crackdown against POGOs.

Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) director Winnie Quidato told the committee that some big POGO companies are splintering into smaller groups, with some branding themselves as business process outsourcing companies.

“So iba-iba po ang style po nila but most of them, nagiging mga guerrilla groups na into 10s, 20s where before they were operating in thousands. So just like what we found in Parañaque when we raided the Parañaque group, nakita po namin sa isang subdivision na mayroon silang inokupa na 45 houses within the subdivision,” the PAOCC official said.

(So they employ different styles but most of them are becoming guerrilla groups working in 10s, 20s, whereas before they were operating in thousands. So just like what we found in Parañaque when we raided the Parañaque group, we saw a subdivision where POGOs occupied 45 houses within the subdivision.) – Rappler.com