Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert Ace Barbers on Wednesday night said Katherine Cassandra Li Ong could be working as a “dummy” for the owner of the Lucky South 99, the Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (POGO) hub raided in Porac, Pampanga, and Whirlwind Corp.
Ong denied she is fronting for the firm’s owner and instead named a certain “Mr. Cheng” as the “big boss” of Lucky South.
During the fourth hearing of the House quad committee, said it was obvious that Ong was a dummy, since she was in-charge of issuing large checks, paid the $500,000 arrears of Lucky South to the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (Pagcor), and owned 58 percent of Whirlwind Corporation.
“Many of us think you are just used as a dummy. You are the dummy of the people behind these POGOs. The next question is, ikaw ba alam mo na iligal yung mga ginagawa o hindi? Kaya nga binibigyan ka namin ng pagkakataon na sabihin na ginamit ka, na dummy ka lang (Do you know that what you are doing is illegal or not? That is why we are giving you a chance to say that you were used, that you are just a dummy),” Barbers asked Ong, who replied, “Sa lahat ng question na po, hindi po ako dummy (To all your questions, I’m not a dummy).”
Ong also refused to answer Sta. Rosa Rep. Dan Fernandez, one of the quad comm’s chairmen, who asked how much she earned as an incorporator of Whirlwind Corp. and if she submitted income tax returns.
“You’re handling so much money and you don’t have a simple income tax return. You should just tell the truth here because we are the only ones who can help you out here,” Fernandez said.
Later on, Ong was brought to St. Luke’s Medical Center in Quezon City due to low blood pressure, which according to the House’s medical team, dropped to 80/40.
Ong maintained she is not an incorporator of Lucky South but named Mr. Cheng as the firm’s owner.
She vowed to give Barbers, the lead chair of the four House panels looking into the proliferation of POGOs under the Duterte administration, Cheng’s full details once she gets in contact with her associates.
While she has admitted working for Lucky South in the previous hearings, Ong insisted that she was just a shareholder in Whirlwind Corp., which leased land in Porac to the POGO hub.
Ong, who is detained at the Batasan Pambansa after previously being cited in contempt, admitted to knowing Mr. Cheng.
“Basta ang alam ko po ang may-ari ng Lucky South, si Mr. Cheng (The only thing I know is Lucky South is owned by Mr. Cheng),” she said.
She also confirmed Barbers’ revelation that Chinese citizen Duanren Wu, the top executive of Whirlwind Corporation, used to be a police officer before he ventured into business in the Philippines.
“Ang alam ko lang po is nagtatrabaho siya sa government agency noon, tapos nag-resign na po after (What I know is he used to work for a government agency and he resigned after),” she said. “Simpleng police lang po siya, pero again, nag-resign na rin po siya (He was just a simple police officer but again, he resigned),” she added.
Ong said Wu is her “godfather” and the best friend of her late mother who was also Chinese.
The 24-year-old Ong also admitted working as a personal translator for Wu in 2019 and living under the same roof with him, along with some staff in Pampanga.
She denied that the funds of her Chinese partners in Whirlwind came from drug money and money-laundering: “Sigurado po ako, hindi po (I’m sure. No).”
During the hearing, the panel continued to investigate the spike in the wealth of former Duterte presidential spokesman Harry Roque, who was linked to the POGO mess after he asked Pagcor chair Alejandro Tengco to help Ong and even accompanied her during the two’s meeting last year when she paid Lucky South’s arrears.
Roque’s former executive assistant Alberto Rodulfo “AR” Dela Serna admitted that he once had a joint bank account with Roque, which greatly intrigued lawmakers, particularly Antipolo City Rep. Romeo Acop, a retired police general and lawyer.
Dela Serna, a former male pageant contestant who represented the Philippines in the 2016 Mister Supranational competition in Poland, came under intense public scrutiny after Roque was implicated in the operations of POGO hubs operated by Chinese high-rollers.
Dela Serna’s connection to Roque was revealed during a raid by the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) on the Lucky South compound in Porac, where authorities discovered Dela Serna’s appointment papers as Executive Assistant III under Roque’s office, dated Oct. 5, 2021, along with an affidavit from Roque assuming full responsibility for Dela Serna’s financial needs during a trip to Poland, Ukraine and Italy in October 2023.
Dela Serna said the biggest one-time deposit to the now closed joint bank account with Roque was P3 million, but he could not say why he and Roque opened a joint account.
Despite not contributing anything to the account, Dela Serna said he received the go-ahead from Roque to withdraw from it.
“Ganun? Nalalaman ko lang ‘yan nang nangyayari ‘yan sa mag-asawa, mag-ina, o mag-ama e, ‘di po ba? Di ba joint account? Ano sa tingin mo, hijo? (Really? What I know is it only happens to couples, mother and child or father and child, don’t you think? Isn’t it a joint account? What do you think, son)?” Acop asked Dela Serna, who said: “Hindi ko naman po pinapakialaman yung pera po ni Atty. Roque (I didn’t touch Atty. Roque’s money).”
Nueva Ecija Rep. Mikaela Angela Suansing, asked why Dela Serna allowed his name to be used by Roque in opening the joint account, to which he replied: “Siguro naman po… hindi po ako ipapahamak ni Atty. Roque po (I don’t think he’ll lead me into trouble).”
