EXECUTIVE Secretary Lucas Bersamin yesterday said Winston Casio of the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) has been placed under administrative investigation and relieved of his duties as spokesman for allegedly maltreating a Filipino employee of a Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (POGO) hub in Bagac, Bataan that was recently raided by authorities.
Bersamin, in a message to reporters, said Casio had been ordered to explain in writing his actuations during the raid at the Central One facility last Thursday.
PAOCC executive director Gilbert Cruz ordered the relief of Casio on Monday.
“Your immediate response (to the order) is crucial as it will significantly influence the office’s consideration of any subsequent actions,” Cruz said in a memorandum to Casio.
If Casio fails to provide his written explanation, this will be “deemed a waiver of your right to contribute to this process.”
“Furthermore, you are hereby relieved of your responsibilities as spokesman for PAOCC effective immediately and until the completion of this investigation,” said Cruz in the memorandum.
In a radio interview, Cruz said he “confronted” Casio after learning about the incident, where he was seen in a video slapping the face of a male person, who was among the hundreds of foreigners and Filipino workers who were nabbed during the raid.
Cruz, quoting Casio’s statement, said the latter supposedly sent a PAOCC member to check what was happening when those who were accosted began shouting.
The PAOCC member reportedly later returned and told Casio that the POGO workers cursed at him and gave him the dirty finger sign, prompting the spokesman to approach one of the Filipino workers.
“Dr. Casio gave him (man) a lecture, telling him, why do you have to do that when we’re letting you (and the other Filipinos) out. The man (suspect) admitted his mistake,” said Cruz.
Cruz said Casio then gave the man two options –the PAOCC will either charge him for unjust vexation, or he would allow himself to be slapped in the face, which the man supposedly picked.
“I told Casio ‘you should have filed the case and did not slap him in the face because that’s wrong’,” Cruz said. “I told him, that ‘even if you have a reason, it’s not right to slap the face of the person, so I have to put you on administrative relief, I am going to relieve you as spokesperson of PAOCC and I will have you investigated’.”
Cruz said PAOCC will file charges against Casio if warranted by the result of the ongoing investigation.
‘NOT STRONG’
In a separate radio interview, Casio said he slapped the man three times but said it was “not strong.”
“But at the end of the day, I still apologize. That is erroneous on my part,” he said, adding he should have just pursued the filing of charges against the worker.
“I stated in the explanation letter that I submitted yesterday that I am willing to face the music because that was wrong,” said Casio, referring to his demeanor.
MANILA POGO
Meanwhile, three operatives of the PNP Anti-Cybercrime Group (ACG) have been relieved for allegedly covering a CCTV camera during the raid of an alleged POGO hub in Manila last week.
The three policemen were reassigned to the PNP Personnel Holding and Accounting Center pending a thorough investigation on the incident.
The incident occurred during the October 29 raid of the scam hub on the 23rd floor of Century Peak Tower where 69 foreigners were arrested during the operation.
Reports said the policemen were seen walking in the hallway, partially unclothed, and later covered the CCTV camera.
Initial investigation said the building’s elevator and air conditioning systems were intentionally turned off during the operation.
“As a result, police personnel had to walk in the hallways of the 23rd floor without shirts due to the heat inside the building, creating an unprofessional appearance when viewed on CCTV cameras,” the ACG said in a statement.
It said the policemen had to walk from the first to the 23rd floor.
“This situation led them to twist and cover only the hallway cameras, while the cameras in the workstations where the devices were located remained operational,” the ACG added.
ACG director Maj. Gen. Ronnie Francis Cariaga said ACG is concerned about the welfare of its men.
However, Cariaga said “we take this incident very seriously and will not tolerate such actions.”
“Sanctions will be imposed if these police officers are found liable,” he also said.
TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS
The scheduled preliminary hearing yesterday on the qualified trafficking in persons case against Katherine Cassandra Li Ong and several other individuals involved in the illegal operations of the Lucky South 99 POGO hub in Porac, Pampanga has been moved to November 18.
Ong’s lawyer, Raphael Andrada, said: “It was supposed to be the submission of the counter-affidavits, but the PNP-CIDG (Criminal Investigation and Detection Group) apparently had supplemental complaints to submit. Now, unfortunately, the witnesses in the supplemental complaint of the PNP-CIDG were not present.”
“So instead, the honorable panel of prosecutors reset the submission of the supplemental complaint on November 18,” he said.
Andrada said his client was prepared to submit her counter-affidavit yesterday as she was also present during the preliminary investigation.
“Next setting on November 18, we won’t be submitting our counter yet since this is supplemental. We will have to go through it first and see if there are any new allegations. So, most likely, we will be submitting our counter on the next setting,” he said.
Meanwhile, Andrada said Ong is being treated fairly at the Correctional Institution for Women in Mandaluyong City.
“It’s just about what you would expect under ordinary detention circumstances… she is being treated quite fairly there,” he said when asked about the condition of his client.
ALICE GUO
In another development, the camp of dismissed Bamban, Tarlac mayor Alice Guo submitted yesterday her counter-affidavit on the falsification and perjury raps filed by the National Bureau of Investigation before the DOJ.
“We submitted our counter-affidavit. Basically, the preliminary investigation on our part is done except if the other side will reply, then we will answer it,” Guo’s counsel Stephen David told reporters.
David reiterated his client is not guilty of the accusations being leveled by the NBI.
“Depensa naming na hindi naman dapat siya makasuhan ng falsification at perjury (Our defense is that she should not have been charged for falsification and perjury),” David said, adding that “it has no basis.”
The NBI filed the complaints after it found out that the signature on Guo’s notarized counter-affidavit on the trafficking in persons case was not really hers.
Aside from Guo, also charged were notary lawyer Elmer Galicia and four others. It was Galicia who notarized Guo’s counter-affidavit.
Guo, in her counter-affidavit, called as “falsehood, concocted lies, and unfounded assertions” the complaint filed by the NBI.
“First and foremost, I strongly submit that I am categorically and vehemently denying all the charges and accusations against me, and I strongly aver that they are bereft of any legal and factual bases,” Guo said.
“Respectfully, there is not enough evidence to prove that I actually committed any of these crimes. Complaint is purely a malicious suit and simply a clear attempt to satisfy the sentiments of some in order to say that various cases are filed against me,” she added.
She also denied falsifying her counter-affidavit and insisted that she was the one who signed the subject document.
“If there is anyone who can disprove and disclaim the signature appearing thereon, that can only be me as the affiant and no one else. To say and allege that I falsified my own signature to make it appear that I participated in a notarial act is not only absurd but illogical,” she also said.
NBI Task Force Alice Guo head agent Palmer Mallari had said that the results of an examination showed that Guo did not sign her counter-affidavit, contrary to what she told the Senate last September 17.
“After the examination, it was proven that the sample signatures appearing on those documents as compared to the supposed signature appearing on the counter-affidavit were actually not written by one and the same person,” Mallari previously said.
The NBI has already filed a disbarment complaint before the Supreme Court against Galicia.
Earlier, DOJ Assistant Secretary and spokesperson Jose Dominic Clavano said there’s a possibility that Galicia may have abused his notarial authority as he notarized Guo’s counter-affidavit even if she did not personally swear before him, in violation of notarial rules. – With Ashzel Hachero