Porac mayor blames PAGCOR for POGO mess

PORAC, Pampanga — Mayor Jing Capil has pushed the blame on the Philippine Amusement Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) for failing to properly monitor the operations of the notorious POGO hub in their area.

In an issued statement, Capil has reiterated his claim that PAGCOR is the only government entity allowed to inspect the Lucky South 99 since the agency is the one who issued the POGO license.

The Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) has recently uncovered cases of human trafficking, kidnapping, torture and online scams in the facility located in Pulung Maba, Porac, which was an abandoned sitio.

The mayor cited that the local government did issue a Letter of No Objection to the establishment of a Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) back in 2019 but PAGCOR allowed Lucky South 99 to operate a POGO.

Capil said there was “a failure of regulation” on the part of PAGCOR because its representatives had been consistently inspecting the operations of Lucky South 99.

Capil said that PAGCOR could had just revoke the license of Lucky South 99 if it found violations within the premises.

“I will not tolerate any illegal activities in Porac town. We allowed this BPO to operate in our town but if Lucky South 99 was involved in illegal activities which PAGCOR did not report, I will support the move to ban POGO in the country,” Capil said.

Capil has also referred to Resolution No. 3 Series of 2024 of the Metro Clark Advisory Council (MCAC) “supporting the actions of Clark Development Corporation and Local Government of Mabalacat City deferring the acceptance and processing of POGO applications and their BPO service providers in its concerted efforts to curb POGO-related crimes.”

The MCAC resolution stated the “MCAC member LGUs are alarmed over these incidents on POGO operations within the Metro Clark Area and the proliferation of POGO-related crimes such as human trafficking, forcible abduction, homicide, illegal detention, kidnap-for-ransom, theft, robbery-extortion, serious physical injuries, swindling and grave coercion, among others and these may even be considered as predicate crimes for anti-money laundering.”

The MCAC resolution was approved by Capil, CDC president and CEO Atty. Agnes Devanadera, Mabalacat City Mayor Cris Garbo, Angeles City Mayor Carmelo “Pogi” Lazatin Jr. and Capas Mayor Roseller Rodriguez.

Capil also said he will present documents that Whirlwind Corporation, the owner of the POGO buildings, paid millions of pesos in taxes. Lucky South 99 pays taxes directly to PAGCOR “that is why there are PAGCOR representatives inside the Porac POGO to monitor.”