QuadComm urged: Probe 'mysterious' Las Piñas POGO employee death

A Las Piñas City councilor is calling on the House of Representatives Quad Committee to investigate the mysterious death of a Chinese national inside an illegal Philippine Offshore Gambling Operator (POGO) establishment operating at a shopping mall in the city in 2019.

The illegal POGO operation, located inside Vista Mall, was reportedly maintained by fugitive Chinese businessman Michael Yang, a former presidential economic adviser of ex-president Rodrigo Duterte, according to Councilor Mark Anthony Santos.

Police reports identified the Chinese worker as Yang Kang, who allegedly fell from the sixth floor of the mall while trying to escape through a window. The victim was found handcuffed and sprawled on the floor by a security guard.

Video footage showed that Yang, who succumbed to his injuries, was able to remove the window grills and attempt to escape. The victim reportedly sought to resign from his job but was required to pay back an advance for his flight to the Philippines.

A lone witness identified as Aquan, 30, told police that he saw Yang inside the conference room tendering his resignation letter to the manager, Li Yunxiang, alias Mr. Shiba, 30. Aquan said he was three to four meters away when Mr. Shiba left the building around 12 midnight of August 9, hours after Yang fell to his death.

City police considered Shiba as the prime suspect who detained and handcuffed the victim inside a room of the shopping mall. On September 4, 2019, the city prosecutor's office found Shiba guilty of serious illegal detention and kidnapping, a non-bailable offense.

Santos, who is running for the city's lone congressional seat, recalled that most members of the city council approved a resolution when Yang's company applied for permits to operate an online gaming hub inside the mall. However, Santos said they later discovered that Yang's businesses were operating illegally and involved in various illegal activities.

He said the Quad Comm should invite ranking city police officials to shed light on their failure to arrest Shiba and provide more information about the illegal POGO operation. Santos also lamented that the city police failed to interrogate mall officials or employees about the victim's mysterious death.

Santos informed the QuadComm that no one from the Department of Labor and Employment had ever investigated the abuses committed by the employer and building owners.