Cassandra Ong (4th from left) speaks with the quad-comm chairmen (Speaker's office)

The House quad-committee (quad-comm) hearing on the Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (POGO) controversy Wednesday, Aug. 28 was an absolute roller-coaster ride for Cassandra Ong. 

In the course of just a few hours, the Lucky South 99 Outsourcing Inc. representative and Whirlwind Corporation corporate secretary irked the congressmen so much that she was cited for contempt a second time, to exchanging smiles with them and sharing details about her personal life. 

Before the marathon hearing, Ong had been deported to the Philippines by Indonesian immigration authorities and taken to the House of Representatives' detention facility last Monday, on account of her first contempt citation that she earned weeks ago when she failed to attend the hearings. 

Suffice it to say that the House members had a lot to ask the 24-year-old on the iissue of illegal POGOs, the accompanying indictment of which is qualified human trafficking. 

Lucky South 99 in Porac, Pampanga is an alleged illegal POGO hub that's jam-packed with rooms for Internet scams and torture. Solons suspect that Lucky South 99 and Whirlwind are the same company. 

By the time she faced the quad-comm at past 6 p.m. Wednesday, Ong looked like a baby gazelle surrounded by African wild dogs. She coped with the situation by declining to answer even the most basic questions from the solons, like "Where did you go to college?" and "What was your prior employment?" 

"I invoke my right to be silent" and "Mr. Chair, I refuse to answer or testify" were the common responses of Ong, whose Chinese father was a naturalized Filipino. 

This prompted one of the quad-comm chairmen, Manila 6th district Rep. Bienvenido "Benny" Abante Jr., to move to cite Ong for contempt a second time. It was swiftly carried by lead chairman, Surigao del Norte 2nd district Rep. Robert Ace Barbers. 

'Too young to go to jail' 

Ong then turned emotional after learning that the House was transferring her to the Correctional Institution for Women in Mandaluyong City as penalty. This was noticed by Batangas 2nd district Rep. Gerville "Jinky Bitrics" Luistro. 

"You should really worry about that because the facility is entirely different from the detention that you are experiencing here in Congress," Luistro said. 

Another quad-comm chairman, Santa Rosa City lone district Rep. Dan Fernandez, told Ong that human trafficking was a non-bailable offense. 

"Bata ka pa para makulong (You're too young to go to jail)," Fernandez said. 

As if a switch was flipped, the resource person suddenly began to be more cooperative in the inquiry. She even began smiling. 

Ong particularly opened up to Fernandez and Assistant Minority Leader 1-Rider Party-list Rep. Rodge Gutierrez. The latter even thanked Ong for her change in demeanor, which allowed the hearing to move forward. 

"I just want to express my sincere appreciation po na kayo ay sumasagot sa katanungan na ito (that you are answering these questions)," Gutierrez told Ong.

Cassandra Ong (seated) confers with her lawyer Ferdinand Topacio (Speaker's office) 

'Wesley Guo is my boyfriend' 

At one point, Ong candidly told the joint panel that Wesley Guo, brother of dismissed Bamban, Tarlac mayor Alice Guo, was her boyfriend. Alice, who is linked with illegal POGOs, left the Philippines last July 18 under the radar of authorities. 

"Ah boyfriend niyo si Wesley Guo, therefore, malapit ka kay Alice Guo? (Ah Wesley Guo is your boyfriend, therefore you are close with Alice Guo?)" Abante asked her, to which Ong answered in the negative. 

But Ong said that she knew Alice at the very least. "Kakilala syempre, sister po siya ng boyfriend [ko] (Of course I know here, she's my boyfriend's sister)." 

Ong confirmed that she met with Guo siblings Alice, Wesley, and Shelia in Singapore before her deportation. 

It waa during the discussions on Alice that Ong categorically denied any links to POGOs. "Yong business po namin is nagre-rent lang para, building, real estate lang po (Our business involves renting, like with buildings, real estate). I’m not related to any POGO." 

In the end, the solons didn't ask anything incriminating to Ong in her first appearance before the quad-comm. 

At past 11 p.m.. and after Ong agreee to sign a waiver for her bank accounts, the quad-comm carried a motion to rescind her second contempt citation as well as her transfer to Mandaluyong. 

She was escorted back to her detention facility in the House just before midnight.