CRIMINAL CHARGES VS. BUILDING OWNER. Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission director and spokesperson Winston Casio guests at the Saturday News Forum in Quezon City on Feb. 22, 2025. Casio said the commission is eyeing the filing of criminal cases against the owner of the building in Parañaque City that was recently raided over the operation of a POGO hub. (Photo from Winston Casio FB)
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.
He said the PAOCC is still identifying the beneficial owners and corporators of the gaming firm.
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