Opposition Senator Leila de Lima is now seeking a Senate investigation into the reported raid conducted in Fort Ilocandia in Laoag, Ilocos Norte over alleged illegal online gambling activities within the resort hotel.

De Lima said it is imperative for the Senate to probe into the continued operation of illegal online gambling activities in the country and hold the perpetrators accountable under existing laws.

The senator made the call following the reported raid conducted by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) at Fort Ilocandia last Dec. 20, 2021 for violation of the provisions of the Cybercriime Prevention Act of 2012.

“There is an urgent need to address the continued proliferation of illegal gambling activities in the country and expeditiously implement measures to safeguard and put an end in making the country a hub of illegal online activities that breach our existing laws,” De Lima said.

De Lima filed the Proposed Senate Resolution asking the Senate to conduct a probe on the controversy but the document has yet to be numbered.

The Senate is currently under lockdown from January 10 to January 14 for disinfection purposes due to a number of employees having tested positive for COVID-19.

De Lima noted that at the time of the raid, the NBI was implementing a cyber warrant for violation of Section 4(b) (2) of the Cybercrime Law or computer-related fraud which “very dubiously yielded no arrest despite a large number of gadgets used for illegal activities having been seized.

Local police disclosed that they were able to seize 35 desktop computers, 20 cellphones, several SIM cards, two routers, and nine company identification cards.

According to Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra, “Chinese-looking persons” were found in the premises during the raid. The target of authorities was a certain Yves L. alias “Weng.”

De Lima noted this is not the first time illegal cybercrime activities were discovered at Fort Ilocandia.

“How the hotel was able to reopen and operate again is suspect at best, especailly when juxtaposed with this most recent raid which apparently yielded no arrest,” she said.

“It is necessary to determine whether there are gaps in the alw that are being taken advantage of by perpetrators that allow them to circumvent our existing laws,” De Lima reiterated.

De Lima recalled that on Dec. 9, 2016, authorities raided the Fontana Leisure Parks and Casino owned by Jack Lam, a Macau-based gambling tycoon.

During the said raid, she said a number of access devices, bank cards, flash drives, cellphones, photos and identification cards, allegedly owned by Chinese individuals suspected to be used in cybercrime or fraudulent activities, were also confiscated.