THE Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (Paocc) said it has arrested the alleged “big boss” of the Philippine offshore gaming operator (POGO) hub in Porac, Pampanga.
Paocc Executive Director Gilbert Cruz said in a television interview Friday that Lyu Dong, who also goes by the aliases “Boss Boga, Boss Apao, and Boss Bahaw,” was nabbed on Thursday inside a residential subdivision in Laguna.
A joint team from the Bureau of Immigration (BI), Department of Justice (DoJ), Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (Isafp), and Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking made the arrest, Cruz said.
Dismissed Bamban, Tarlac mayor Alice Guo. PHOTOS BY RENE H. DILAN
He described Dong as the “kingpin of POGOs.”
Since he arrived in the country in 2016, Dong was able to establish POGOs in the Ilocos region, Central Luzon, Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon), and Metro Manila.
Some of the hubs continue to operate, Cruz said.
He added that Dong was among the individuals that were named as the Paocc applied for a search warrant for the Lucky South 99.
It took the commission eight months to arrest Dong because he uses a helicopter to move around, Cruz said.
He also has a security detail with him every time he travels, complete with lookouts on motorcycles, Cruz said.
The Paocc is verifying with the Chinese Embassy in Manila if Dong is involved in crimes in China.
It will also check on the nine Filipinos who were arrested with Dong.
Cruz also said Dong could be the POGO boss that dismissed Bamban, Tarlac mayor Alice Guo refuses to identify at congressional hearings.
Cruz said Guo may be reluctant to name Lyu because he is still in the Philippines.
The POGO bosses that Guo has identified were those who have left the country, he said.
On Friday, opposition party-list Akbayan called on the government to relentlessly pursue the cases against Guo and her associates, after “mounting evidence” against them was revealed and presented at inquiries in the House of Representatives and the Senate.
“With all this evidence, the cases against them will be strong enough to hold them accountable for what they did in our country,” Akbayan Rep. Percival Cendaña said in Filipino.
During the hearing of the Senate Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations and Gender Equality, a Chinese individual named Wang Fugui testified that Guo was a Chinese spy.
Wang based his claim on files that he kept for Chinese tycoon She Zhijiang.
He also said Guo’s campaign for Bamban mayor was financed by Chinese state security.
Akbayan first nominee and human rights lawyer Chel Diokno said that if the claims are proven to be true, the government must update the anti-espionage sections in the Commonwealth Act 616, which was created in 1941.
“It’s time to review and amend Commonwealth Act 616 to make it relevant to today’s laws and to prevent further abuse by criminal elements and foreign spies. We need to strengthen this, so they will no longer try to do this in the country,” Diokno said.
He also urged authorities to verify reports that there are other “Alice Guos,” or Chinese spies, that are sitting as elected local government officials in other parts of the Philippines.
“It is only right for our government to investigate this to ensure that we are not infiltrated by foreign spies within our government. Those who have abused our country should be held accountable, and our laws should be strengthened to protect our national security,” Diokno said.
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