The House quad committee may transfer Cassandra Li Ong to prison if she remains uncooperative with its ongoing investigation into her links with the Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO), the committee’s chairman said Sunday.
“Since she said she wants to be detained in jail rather than the House detention facility, we will honor her request since she has also failed to provide us with information about the illegal POGO issue,” quad committee chair Ace Barbers said in an interview.
Ong, the authorized representative of Lucky South 99 Corp. and incorporator of Whirlwind Corporation, has been detained at the House premises since her return from Indonesia. She was arrested there on 22 August with Sheila Guo, the alleged sister of dismissed Bamban Mayor Alice Guo.
Ong’s detention followed a contempt order issued by the panel for repeatedly ignoring congressional summons.
She is considered material to the POGO investigation due to her 58 percent stake in Whirlwind, a firm that leased land in Porac, Pampanga, to POGO hub Lucky South 99. The hub was raided earlier this year over allegations of unlawful activities, including torture and scam farms.