In relation with the big raid on an office build in Parañaque City that resulted in the apprehension of hundreds of suspects, building owners in the city will have avoid Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs) as the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) announced it is eyeing the filing of criminal cases against the owner of the building that was the site of the said raid, according to a news article by the Philippine News Agency (PNA).
To put things in perspective, posted below is an excerpt from the PNA news article. Some parts in boldface…
The Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) is eyeing the filing of criminal cases against the owner of the building in Parañaque City that was recently raided after the reported operation of an illegal Philippine offshore gaming operator (POGO).
At the regular Saturday News Forum in Quezon City, PAOCC director and spokesperson Winston Casio said the PAOCC would also seek the forfeiture of the whole building allegedly used by the Dan Ying Gaming Corp. where POGO workers have been operating for two years.
“Obviously, we will move for the criminal and civil forfeiture of the whole building sapagkat ‘yung operation noong POGO ay nasa (because the POGO operations were on the) fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh (floors),” Casio said, adding that a security agency also mans the building.
“So, may kakaharaping malaking problema ang may-ari ng building sa kaniyang pagpayag na magamit ang kaniyang building bilang POGO hub (So, the building owner will face a big problem in allowing his building to be used as a POGO hub).”
He said the building owner may also face a human trafficking case for “knowingly renting out his facility to POGO operations for the past several months.”
The owner, he said, apparently ignored the “red flags,” including the questionable PHP20 million monthly lease payment.
“Nakita naman nila ang red flag. Maraming foreigners coming in and out doon sa building. Nakita naman siguro nila na maraming computers (They must have seen the red flags. Many foreigners were coming in and out of the building. They probably saw that there were many computers). All of those are red flags already but they did not fulfill their social responsibility,” he said.
A total of 435 POGO workers, including 148 foreign nationals, were arrested during a raid on the Chinese-run POGO hub inside the ATI building in front of the Parañaque Integrated Terminal Exchange on Thursday night.
About 136 Chinese nationals, five Vietnamese, three Malaysians, two Thais, a Taiwanese, and an Indonesian were among those taken into custody, Casio said.
Casio said the Dan Ying Gaming Corp. is allegedly owned by a “well-known” Filipino-Chinese businessman.
Let me end this post by asking you readers: What do you think about this recent development? If you are a resident of Parañaque, are you concerned that there could still be a lot more illegal POGOs operating inside many buildings all across the city? Do you consider the Bay Area of Parañaque a potential hot spot of illegal POGOs secretly operating inside office buildings? Do you think that money generated by POGOs and sourced from illegal activities online are fuelling Parañaque’s economy significantly? Does this influence the way you plan to vote in the local elections of Parañaque this May?
You may answer in the comments below. If you prefer to answer privately, you may do so by sending me a direct message online.
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