MONEY from Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs) were allegedly used by the Duterte administration to reward cops who killed suspects in the bloody war on illegal drugs, the chairperson of the House Committee on Human Rights said yesterday.
Manila Rep. Benny Abante said police officers supposedly told him that there was money involved in exchange for killing suspected drug personalities, which led to the deaths of innocent civilians.
He alleged that every policeman was given between P20,000 to P60,000 per suspect killed in the drug war.
“Nalaman namin na (We found out that), this is a testimony of one of the police, that we have from P20,000 to P60,000 ang binabayad dyan (that from P20,000 to P60,000 is being paid per head),” Abante said.
“There were exchange of money here, ibig sabihin ang nakita namin na (meaning, what we saw was) there might be a quota system in the Philippine National Police, number one.
Although, dinedeny ito ng iba, pero ibang mga pulis nasabi nila ito (while others deny it, some policemen confirmed it). Pangalawa (secondly). there’s a reward system, ibig sabihin sa reward system na ‘yan, kapag nakapatay ka ng drug pusher, may reward ka (meaning if you kill a drug pusher, you get a reward),” he also said.
He added the “reward” money were supposedly proceeds from POGOs.
“You see, we’d like to find out why, we’d like to find out saan nanggagaling ang pera sapagkat nalaman naming na nanggagaling yan sa POGO money, nanggagaling sa gambling money yan (we’d like to find out where the money came from because we learned that it came from POGO money, that it’s gambling money,” Abante said.
Last week, House Committee on Public Order and Safety chaired by Sta. Rosa Rep. Dan Fernandez revealed the link between illegal POGOs and drugs traders, saying it involves a complex network of Chinese nationals, including former president Rodrigo Duterte’s then economic adviser Michael Yang.
In a matrix which he presented before the joint committee on public order and safety and games and amusement, the lawmaker exposed the links between POGOs and the drug operations.
For one, Fernandez cited the findings of the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) that suspended Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo, who had 36 accounts, was involved in bank transactions amounting to P29 billion.
He said the joint panel was able to establish that Hong Jiang Yang, Yang’s brother, had transactions worth P3.3 billion with Guo, who according to Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian, is one of the brains behind the POGO hub raided in Bamban, Tarlac.
Abante’s panel is part of the four committees tasked by the House plenary to jointly investigate the top issues concerning the previous administration: POGOs and crimes associated with it, the proliferation of illegal drugs and the bloody war on drugs.
The three other panels are the committees on dangerous drugs chaired by Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert Ace Barbers, public order and safety of Sta. Rosa chaired by Fernandez, and public accounts of Rep. Stephen Paduano (PL, Abang Lingkod).
Abante said his panel was included because of its ongoing probe on the extrajudicial killings under the Duterte administration, which, he said, has been linked to illegal POGOs run by Chinese citizens.
The creation of the committee followed an ocular inspection by Speaker Martin Romualdez and several lawmakers, including the four chairpersons, of Chinese-operated POGO hubs in Bamban, Tarlac and Porac, Pampanga, and a Mexico warehouse.
The chairmen of the four committees, called the “quad comm,” denied that the joint probe is targeting the Dutertes, especially since Vice President Sara Duterte has broken away from the Marcos Jr. administration.
Abante said the fact that most of what they are probing happened during the last administration is only incidental.
“The previous administration might have triggered this investigation. It’s continuing on kaya nga nag-iimbestiga kami so that makapag-craft kami ng legislation (that’s why we’re investigating, so we could craft legislation) to put a stop to the alleged criminal organization that had happened,” he said.
Barbers also denied that the quad committe probe is about political persecution.
“Hindi ito politika (this isn’t politics),” he said. “Hindi ito (This isn’t) related sa (to) political persecution. Ginagawa lang po naming ang trabaho namin nang sa ganun ay maiayos natin yung mga ahensiya ng gobyerno at mga kawani ng gobyerno na tiwali, pumapasok sa mga kalokohan (We’re just doing our jobs to put in order government agencies and its personnel who engaged in corruption, in shenanigans),” he said.
Antipolo Rep. Romeo Acop, senior vice chair of the public order panel, said: “We are not into that business, ‘yung magkaroon ng or sasali kami sa isang (the one where we’ll join a) political squabble. No. We are here to do our job,” said Acop. “And our job is to find out if the laws we have enacted in Congress are properly implemented by the Executive. We enact laws, the Executive will implement these laws.”
The lawmakers said they still plan to invite former President Rodrigo Duterte and Sen. Ronald Dela Rosa to the quadcomm probe and they will be accorded the utmost respect if they decide to attend the congressional hearings.
“And if any of the committees will deem it proper to invite the former president or any resource persons for that matter, as long as makakatulong, bakit hindi? (As long as it would help, why not?) Gaya ng sinabi ni (vice) chairman Acop, karapatan din po nilang tumanggi (Like vice chair Acop said), they have the right to decline) and we respect that,” Barbers said.
Also yesterday, the public order panel, which has been conducting an inquiry on POGOs jointly with the Committee on Games and Amusement, cited in contempt and ordered detained for 30 days Ronalyn Baterna, the corporate secretary of Lucky South 99 in Porac, Pampanga for allegedly trying to fool the committee when it tried to find out who the real owners of the company are.
Baterna, who insisted that she was just a receptionist who was later asked by an HR officer to be the corporate secretary in 2022, will spend 30 days at the House custodial center unless she can convince lawmakers, in writing, why she should be released.
Lawmakers suspect that Beterna was being used as a dummy by the real Chinese owners, especially since her salary was only P17,000 per month when she started in 2019. She said it was later increased to P23,000 after she was given additional duties.
“She thought we are stupid here,” Fernandez told the panel before it voted in favor of Paduano’s motion.
Baterna was accused of lying under oath after Cavite Rep. Antonio Ferrer, games panel chair, asked her who brought Lucky South 99’s lawyer Joselle Velasco of NFC Miralles Law Office to the hearing, to which she said she was the one who sought the legal assistance.
“So, meaning you have this authority, all authority emanates from you because NFC defends Lucky South 99, and you coordinated with them, right? A while ago, you said you do not know anything, you do not coordinate, you do not talk to lawyers, but now they are telling us that it was you who coordinated. So here we can see you lying,” said Fernandez.
Senate President Francis Escudero, meanwhile, said he has authorized the Senate sergeant-at-arms to provide security to senators who have been receiving threats due to the ongoing POGO hearings.
Escudero said they amended a portion of the Senate Rules which allowed the wider scope of security given by the OSAA.
“Yung sergeant-at-arms ino-authorize namin (We authorized the Senate sergeant-at-arms) to do what he can to protect not only the institution, the office, the building and those in it, but also the members of the Senate. So kung ano man yun ibig sabihin ay pag-aaralan pa namin. Ang importante na-authorize na yung Sergeant-at-Arms na gawin iyon (So, whatever that means, we will study it. But the important thing here is that we already authorized the Sergeant-at-Arms to do it),” he said. — With Raymond Africa
