CEBU CITY – Police have examined the electronic gadgets – 34 computers, four laptops, and 226 cellular phones – seized from a suspected Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (POGO) hub in Barangay Saavedra, Moalboal town, southern Cebu.
POBLACION (town center) Moalboal, Cebu. (Wikipedia)
The Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit examined the gadgets on Monday and Tuesday based on a search warrant issued by Toledo City Regional Trial Court Branch 29 Judge Ruben Altubar. Results of the examination have yet to be disclosed.
Police Lt. Col. Gerard Ace Pelare, spokesperson of Police Regiona Office-Central Visayas (PRO-7) chief Police Brig. Gen. Anthony Aberin, said the purpose of the examination was to determine what kind of POGO was operated by a group of 38 Chinese nationals who are already under the custody of the Moalboal police.
The raid in Moalboal was conducted on October 10.
Pelare said the Chinese nationals were charged for violation of Section 7 of Republic Act 562 or the Alien Registration Act of 1950 for failure to present documents proving that their stay in the country was legal.
For failure to present passports or certification that they are allowed to work in the country, they are facing deportation as a penalty of the offense, Pelare said.
Pelare said an investigation will also look into the possibility if they were victims of human trafficking who have been physically abused similar to what happened to a group of foreign nationals who were discovered in a POGO hub raided by the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission in Lapu-Lapu City, Cebu last August.
"The possibility that they are victims of human trafficking cannot also be discounted. That is why the investigation is still ongoing. We are facing challenges because there are 38 of them and we only have one translator. We need to talk to them one by one to check if they are victims of human trafficking," said Pelare.
Pelare said that in previous operations, it was discovered that those who worked in POGO hubs were victims of human trafficking and were tortured.
He added that it is possible that those who were apprehended came from the POGO hubs that were dismantled in Lapu-Lapu City and Luzon.
"The PRO-7 has intensified its monitoring and surveillance to ensure that possible POGO hubs that are operating in other areas will dismantled," Pelare said.
Pelare said they have identified the bosses of the Chinese who were apprehended in Moalboal.
He said charges may soon be filed against the bosses and their local contacts.