Senator Bong Go Implicated in POGO Probe; POGO Money Used to Reward Anti-Drug Units

August 29, 2024 Philippines Crime & Legal

Police Col. Jovie Espenido revealed that funds from Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs), Small-Town Lottery (STL) operators, and intelligence funds were allegedly used to reward police officers involved in the anti-drug campaign of former President Rodrigo Duterte.

According to an August 28, 2024 report of the Inquirer, Espenido’s disclosures were based on information provided by the late former mayor of Clarin, Misamis Occidental, David Navarro.

Espenido’s seven-page affidavit, submitted to the committee, outlined how rewards for drug-related kills were funded. “Even intelligence funds were used in the drug war. POGO money was also used. After these POGOs were able to register with the government, funding was funneled downward from the level of Bong Go,” Espenido wrote in his affidavit.

During the August 28 session of the House of Representatives’ quad-committee, PBA party-list Rep. Margarita Nograles questioned Espenido about his affidavit.

“Nakasulat din po dito sa affidavit niyo na ang pumpondo rin dito sa reward system na ito ay mga Pogo, galing sa Pogos,” she noted. (It is also written in your affidavit that the funding for this reward system came from Pogos.)

“Siya [Navarro] rin mismo ang nagsabi sa inyo, Mr. Chair, na hindi lang STL, pati Pogo, pumopondo dito?” (Is he [Navarro] the same person who told you that it’s not only STLs, but also Pogos, funding this?)

Espenido confirmed: “‘Yon ang narinig ko kay Mayor Navarro.” (That’s what I heard from Mayor Navarro.)

Nograles inquired whether the funds from Pogos were channeled through Christopher “Bong” Go, who was the Special Assistant to the President during the Duterte administration.

She emphasized the seriousness of these allegations. “Mabigat po ang akusasyon na ito. So you confirm po Colonel na itong POGO, may basbas at may orders na pagpopondo dito sa reward system dito sa POGO, sa pinangalanan niyo po dito sa Paragraph 40 na si, tama po ba ito po ang ngayon na Senador natin, Senador Bong Go?” (This is a serious accusation. So you confirm, Colonel, that Pogo had blessings and orders to fund the reward system, particularly involving the individual named in Paragraph 40, who is now Senator Bong Go?)

Espenido affirmed that this information came from Navarro. He added that the reward system was widely known among police officers. “’Yon ang mostly na marinig natin your Honor, sa aming mga pulis, na pagkukunan para sa mga fund ng reward system,” Espenido said. (That is mostly what we hear, Your Honor, among us police officers, that these are the sources for the reward system funds.)

Espenido, who is described as the former “poster boy” of Duterte’s war on drugs, also wrote: “I confirm that there was a quota and reward system in the implementation of the war on drugs during the previous administration. I truly wanted to implement it without causing deaths. When the leadership imposed a quota of 50-100 per day, we only took it to mean that we had to knock on the doors of 50-100 households suspected of drug use or pushing.

“I know that there was a reward of P20,000 per kill in the drug war. The funding came from operators of Small-Town Lottery (STL), or jueteng lords who give money to the police regional commanders, provincial commanders, down the line. The group or individuals who make the kill receive the money.”

Espenido disclosed the money was being delivered by “bagmen” to high-ranking police officers.

“I personally know some of the bagmen. Many PNCO [non-commissioned officers] who were my classmates were murdered. They were bagmen acting at the beck and call of regional and provincial directors.”

The late Navarro was murdered in Cebu City on October 25, 2019, while en route to the prosecutor’s office. He was facing charges of physical injuries and acts of lasciviousness. His death was part of the broader investigation into the drug war.

The revelations about POGO money being used to fund police rewards are not new. On August 7, House committee on human rights chairperson Bienvenido Abante Jr. disclosed that his committee had received similar information about POGOs financing rewards for officers involved in extrajudicial killings (EJKs).

Critics have long accused the Duterte administration’s drug war of being excessively violent, with some alleging that police officers were pressured to meet quotas for drug busts. In August 2023, former police colonel and 1-Rider party-list Rep. Bonifacio Bosita claimed there was a quota system mandating police to achieve a set number of drug operations weekly.