Arrested POGO workers in the Philippines plead not guilty

File photo of a different, earlier POGO raid in the Philippines (Las Pinas City, Metro Manila) by Marianne Bermudez (for illustration purposes only) for Inquirer.net

The ‘cybercrime hub’ raided by authorities in Pasay, one of the component cities of the capital city of the Philippines, led to the arrest of hundreds of workers, 23 of whom have pleaded not guilty to SRC violations.

Original story by Mike Navallo for ABS-CBN News

Twenty-three workers apprehended during a raid in a Pasay City POGO hub early this month pleaded “not guilty” to the criminal charge of violating the Securities Regulation Code, the lawyer of some of the accused told ABS-CBN News Wednesday.

Lawyer Gloria Quintos, who represents 16 of the accused, said all her clients, who attended through videoconference, pleaded not guilty to violating section 28.1 of the Securities Regulation Code (Republic Act 8799) in relation to the Cybercrime Prevention Act (RA 10175).

Section 28.1 of the SRC prohibits a person from engaging “in the business of buying or selling securities in the Philippine as a broker or dealer, or act as a salesman, or an associated person of any broker or dealer unless registered as such with the [Securities and Exchange] Commission.”

Twenty-eight foreigners are accused of engaging in cyberscams, luring victims online to invest their money.

The POGO hub in Pasay previously had a license from PAGCOR to facilitate online gambling but was canceled after the raid when it was found to be engaged in illegal gambling and other fraudulent activities.

Of the 28, only 23 were arraigned on Wednesday with the help of an accredited Chinese translator from the Chinese Embassy, Quintos said.

The 5 others asked to defer their arraignment in order to secure interpreters accredited by the Office of the Court Administrator, she added.

Aside from the Chinese, some of the accused came from Myanmar and Malaysia.

All of them are currently detained at a Bureau of Jail Management and Penology facility in Bicutan.

Meanwhile, Quintos said she has yet to hear from one of her clients who was reported to have escaped from the SKK Global Support Building in Pasay City.

She added, the court issued a show cause order to the operating agencies to explain how her client went missing.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) has ordered a manhunt for the missing POGO worker who was believed to have escaped from the POGO facility.

Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla on Tuesday said he was aware of the missing POGO worker’s identity.

“I have the identity but still being sought after by the fugitives unit. We are asking the NBI to get into the act,” he said.

He added that they were still investigating what exactly happened.

“We are sifting through the evidence because we are getting conflicting reports but we will be able to discern properly through the days, depending on the details that come into us in the next few days,” he said.

The Philippine government intensified its crackdown against illegal gambling this year. Earlier this year, a component city of Metro Manila issued a city-wide ban against POGOs and other online gambling activities.

National government figures have also made pronouncements in support of these recent developments against POGOs, with the country’s Finance Secretary saying that the revenue is not worth retaining the industry.

Senators have likewise urged the Marcos government to issue an absolute ban on POGOs altogether, with one senator saying that online gambling operators get away with ‘billions of unpaid taxes.

On the local government side, since last year, other component cities of Metro Manila have had regulations against POGOs with the latest being Valenzuela issuing an outright ban in the city.

Read more insights in the original article by Mike Navallo for ABS CBN News here: https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/08/30/23/pasay-pogo-workers-plead-not-guilty-to-src-violation-charge