PAOCC denies singling out Chinese nationals in Pogo crackdown

Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission chief, Undersecretary Gilbert Cruz. INQUIRER.net/Faith Argosino

MANILA, Philippines — The Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) on Thursday denied that Chinese nationals are being singled out in the recent crackdown of Philippine offshore gaming operators (Pogo) hubs.

PAOCC chief Gilbert Cruz made this response when asked his opinion on the advisory of the Chinese Embassy in Manila warning of “harassments” supposedly faced by its citizens.

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“Philippine law enforcement agencies have frequently interrogated and harassed Chinese citizens and enterprises,” the embassy said in a statement as translated via Google.

But Cruz said in a media forum: “As far as PAOCC is concerned, while most of the arrested are Chinese, there are also other foreign nationals, like Vietnamese and then Malaysian and Indonesian and other nationalities.”

“It just happened that so many foreign nationals are getting arrested, especially Chinese. But the government targeting Chinese people? I don’t think that’s true,” he added.

Law enforcers had also been rounding up foreigners, mostly Chinese, who were caught still working at Pogos which President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s administration banned last year for alleged ties to online scams, human trafficking, money laundering, and other crimes.

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Meanwhile, Cruz said about “a hundred” of small-scale illegal Pogos could still operate in the country.

Previously, Cruz said the country’s Pogo problem will be fully solved by the end of the year.