LAPU-LAPU City Mayor Junard “Ahong” Chan assured senators that he will be present in the next Senate hearing on illegal Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators’ (Pogo) activities.
Chan failed to attend the hearing scheduled at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024, as he was filing his certificate of candidacy for the city’s lone district along with his partymates on the same day.
The mayor informed the Senate committee led by Sen. Risa Hontiveros about his absence through a letter dated Oct. 4.
Chan’s invitation was in relation to the alleged Pogo scam hub that was raided in Barangay Agus last Aug. 31.
Hontiveros said during the hearing that they invited Chan in the “interest of fairness.”
During the hearing, photos of Shouqi Zhao, one of the arrested foreign nationals from the Tourist Garden Hotel compound, and Chan were flashed on the screen.
Hontiveros asked Usec. Gilberto Cruz, executive director of the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (Paocc), if there had been a fact-finding investigation conducted on Chan and Zhao.
Cruz responded that they had already coordinated with the Department of the Interior and Local Government and would follow up on the ongoing inquiry.
He added that there was an ongoing investigation into the government officials who were involved in the operation of the scam hub in Lapu-Lapu.
Hontiveros also asked for updates on the developments regarding the Lapu-Lapu City raid.
National Bureau of Investigation Deputy Director Angelito Magno said during the hearing that authorities were still validating the allegations and would come up with a report along with the Paocc.
When Hontiveros asked how soon, Magno assured he would check immediately.
A scheduled arraignment against the 16 foreign nationals and lone Filipino who are facing charges of seven counts of qualified trafficking in persons is set for next week. It was earlier reported that the arraignment would commence on Oct. 3; however, a motion to quash contested the court’s jurisdiction and the legitimacy of the arrests. / DPC