MANILA, Philippines – Despite the supposed ban imposed by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., authorities arrested foreigners anew linked to Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGO) scamming.
National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Director Jaime Santiago said on Friday, February 28, that the bureau nabbed 20 foreigners for alleged violation of section 4(b)(1) (social engineering schemes) of Republic Act No. 12010 or anti-financial account scamming act (AFASA), in relation to RA No. 1075 or the cybercrime prevention act.
The NBI did not release the names of the foreigners, but it said their operation stemmed from a complaint from the wife of a Chinese victim, who said her husband was being held against his will. The wife said her husband worked as a customer service representative for a POGO company, which operated under the trade name “LWE,” located in Aseana 3, West Tower, Parañaque City.
Following the complaint, NBI operatives raided the company and rescued the victim. In the operation, the authorities nabbed the alleged captor, Liu Zhi Tao, also known as “Ren Jia.” While in the company, the NBI discovered that the POGO hub was fully operational and that foreigners were allegedly engaged in online scamming activitiez.
This led to the arrest of the 20 foreigners, including Ren Jia, who faces an additional illegal detention case. The foreigners have already undergone inquest proceedings before the Parañaque City prosecutor’s office.
Inquest is a special type of preliminary investigation because it can only be applied to people arrested without warrants. In warrantless arrests, nabbed individuals must be charged within 36 hours, based on rules.
Relatively new law
In the early days of POGO raids, arrested ordinary POGO workers were held under government custody, and later deported, while the big bosses were slapped with harsher cases like serious illegal detention and money laundering.
What the NBI filed against the Parañaque POGO workers was a relatively new law, signed by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. only in July 2024. It was part of the priority measures of the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council or the President’s priority bills.
Under AFASA, banks and other financial institutions are mandated to implement necessary security measures and fraud management systems to secure their clients’ accounts. The new law also gives the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas the power to probe and inquire into financial accounts that may be involved in alleged illegal activities.
AFASA gave the Central Bank a free pass from rules on bank secrecy and data privacy in investigating bank accounts, e-wallets, and other financial accounts suspected to be involved in alleged crimes.
What ban?
In his third State of the Nation Address, Marcos announced his government’s total ban on POGOs, a 180-degree turn from the policy of his predecessor, Rodrigo Duterte, who embraced the Chinese-linked enterprise. Marcos ordered the ban amid the successive raids on these gaming operators linked to a pile of crimes, like trafficking, money laundering, and illegal detention.
Under the order, the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation was tasked to wind down and cease POGO operations by the end of 2024. But despite this ban, arrests still continue.
Just a few months after Marcos’ directive, the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) raided a scam hub in Pasay City in October 2024, located just beside the World Trade Center. The people behind POGOs also appear to find ways to circumvent government policies as they still exist despite the crackdown.
PAOCC director Winnie Quidato revealed during a Senate hearing in November 2024 that some big POGO companies are splintering into smaller groups, with some branding themselves as business process outsourcing companies to continue their operations. Some POGOs are now operating in smaller units which appear to be guerrilla groups.
“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,” Quidato said. – Rappler.com