FILE PHOTO: PAOCC Undersecretary Gilbert Cruz holds a press briefing in Camp Crame, Quezon City on October 10, 2023. INQUIRER.net / Faith Argosino
MANILA, Philippines — Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) personnel and witnesses on cases related to its ongoing investigation into illegal Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (Pogos) have been receiving death threats, an official revealed Monday.
PAOCC Undersecretary Gilbert Cruz, however, admitted that for their staff, getting death threats might be part of their job. For witnesses, he noted, it could be different, expressing fear that they might give in to their worry and affect PAOCC’s cases against Pogos.
“’Di naman namin pwede i-pagkaila at syempre nakakasagasa na tayo ng interes ng ibang tao. [Pero] ginagawa lang namin ito as a member of PAOCC or law enforcement agency,” Cruz said in an interview over Teleradyo.
(We can’t deny it, it, and of course, we have already run into other people’s interests. But we only do this as a member of PAOCC or a law enforcement agency.)
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“Ang ginagawa nila dito magpupunla sila ng takot sa mga nag-i-implement [ng batas] laban dito sa mga illegal Pogo para magkaroon ng fear para maapektuhan ‘yung mga desisyon na ginagawa po namin, [but] sa amin trabaho lang po ito,” he also explained.
(What they’re doing here is instilling fear in those who implement the law against illegal Pogos to affect the decisions we are making, but for us, this is just a job.)
Cruz likewise disclosed that people behind the death threats also try to change the minds of their witnesses. According to the PAOCC official, these people have complete resources and connections, as well as the financial means to pay their witnesses to change the course of the government investigation.
“Ang kinatatakot namin ay pati witnesses namin ginagapang. Marami po kasi kaming hawak na witness,” Cruz said.
(What we are afraid of is that they are trying to persuade witnesses. Because we have many witnesses.)
“Doon lang din kami takot dahil ayaw namin masira ‘yung kaso,” he added.
(That’s what we are afraid of because we don’t want cases to be spoiled.)
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PAOCC, with the help of other government law enforcement agencies such as the Philippine National Police, has been carrying out raids on illegal Pogos.
In a raid on a Pogo hub in Angeles City, Pampanga, PAOCC apprehended 190 people and even found suspicious items in the complex, such as People’s Liberation Army uniforms, an “outstanding service medal” for a Chinese military sergeant, military pins, two pairs of boots, and documents with the name of Atty. Harry Roque, who used to be the spokesperson of former president Rodrigo Duterte.
Authorities likewise recovered identification cards of a foreigner bearing different names among what PAOCC described as “a good number of disturbing discoveries” from the Pogo compound.
Last March 13, government operatives also raided the 10-hectare facility of illegal Pogo Zun Yuan Technology in Bamban, Tarlac, which led to the rescue of 499 foreign workers. This raid was based on two court-issued search warrants for alleged human trafficking and serious illegal detention of Pogo workers.