Foreigners believed buried near raided hub

The Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) said Wednesday it will investigate a supposed burial site for foreign nationals near the raided Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (POGO) hub in Porac, Pampanga.

“We are currently applying for a new search warrant for the Lucky South 99 compound after new witnesses pointed to areas where they said the bodies of several foreign nationals were buried,” PAOCC spokesperson Dr. Winston Casio said in Filipino in a television interview.

In June, the PAOCC served a search warrant on the 10-hectare South 99 Outsourcing Inc., a POGO hub in Porac, over alleged human trafficking, prostitution, and torture activities inside the firm’s building.

Casio said the PAOCC will secure the search warrant within the week.

“We went there last week and the witnesses pointed out the locations. Even though we have custody of the area, we should not dig until we get a warrant,” he said.

Casio said the PAOCC will also investigate the alleged link between Sual, Pangasinan Mayor Liseldo “Dong” Calugay and dismissed Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo, who was implicated in illegal POGO activities in her town.

“That will be subjected to an investigation by our task group,” he said.

Casio noted that the name of the Sual mayor was repeatedly mentioned in the Senate hearings into POGO hubs, making him a person of interest.

“So we are examining if we have enough evidence to make the case actionable and present it in a formal investigation,” he said.

He said the task group consists of prosecutors and financial investigators from the Anti-Money Laundering Council, National Bureau of Investigation, Philippine National Police-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group and PAOCC.

In a Senate hearing last Monday, Guo repeatedly denied having a romantic relationship with Calugay, maintaining that they were merely friends.