Lucky South 99 Corp.’s authorized representative Cassandra Li Ong requested the House quad committee to let a friend stay with her at the Correctional Institute for Women (CIW) citing mental health issues. 

Ong has been at the center of congressional hearings and is facing mounting criminal cases, including qualified human trafficking, a non-bailable offense, owing to her supposed links in illegal Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO).

Apart from the Lucky South 99, an illegal POGO firm in Porac, Pampanga, raided earlier this year over criminal activities, such as torture and scam, Ong is also an incorporator of the Whirlwind Corp. that leased land to Lucky South 99, owning at least a 58 percent stake.

She has been detained at the CIW after her initial 30-day contempt penalty expired on 26 September.

On the tenth inquiry of the quad comm on Thursday, co-chair Joseph Stephen Paduano informed the panel about Ong’s request for a companion in the detention.

According to the letter submitted to the committee, Ong is currently “suffering from severe mental breakdowns and anxiety attacks” and she is in a “state of severe depression.”

Quad Comm vice chair Romeo Acop a consultation with the CIW should be undertaken first to ensure that Ong’s request will not bypass their protocols.

Panel chairperson Ace Barbers later ruled that they would await the CIW’s response and in case it agrees, the quad comm will allow Ong’s request. 

During the 4 September hearing into POGO, Ong also experienced health issues, with her blood pressure significantly dropping to 80/40, and had to be pulled out from the inquiry and later confined in the hospital.