PORAC — Three mayoral candidates in this municipality allegedly signed the Letter of No Objection (LONO) that reportedly paved the way for the establishment of the Lucky South 99 Outsourcing.
The three candidates for this town's mayor, who signed the said LONO, include re-electionist Mayor Jaime Capil, Former Vice Mayor Charlie Santos, and Former Councilor Mike Tapang, as gleaned in Sangguniang Bayan Resolution No. 119 Series of 2019, which was sent to SunStar Pampanga.
Lucky South 99, a Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO), was raided by Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) in June 2024 after reports of illegal activities.
Other signatories in the resolution include then Councilors Maynard Lapid, Francis Laurence Tamayo, Roman Paul David, Remberto Lapid, Rito Buan, Michelle Bengco, Princess Buan, Edwin Abuque, and Jin Mikhaela Canlas.
Capil, who is already serving a six-month suspension imposed by Office of the Ombudsman, also signed and approved the resolution.
The said resolution expresses “no objection to the application of Ms. Katherine Cassandra L. Ong, for the franchise/license/permit application of the Lucky South 99 Outsourcing Incorporated, to national and local government agencies, offices, and bureaus, for the company’s intention to establish, operate and manage Business Process Outsourcing Services and activities at its office in Porac, Pampanga.”
LONO FOR BPO
Tapang denied any involvement or knowledge that Lucky South 99 was operating as a POGO.
Tapang acknowledged signing the resolution, but he clarified that the LONO he approved was intended for a business process outsourcing (BPO) company, not a POGO.
“Nag-apply sila as a BPO. Nakalagay sa mga documents na pinresent nila at pati sa mismong resolution ay BPO. Siyempre kung BPO ‘yan, magdadala ng trabaho dito sa Porac, bakit ako hihindi?,” Tapang said.
He presented to Sun.Star Pampanga a document from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) attached to the LONO application, which showed that Lucky South 99 was officially registered as a Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) company.
“2019 namin inapprove ‘yan for BPO. Hindi naman alam na ito pala gagamitin para magpasok ng POGO dito. Ang operation naman ng bayan, alam naman natin sa Local Government Code ay nasa mayor lahat,” he said.
Sun.Star Pampanga also welcomes the response of Santos on the issue.