Surigao del Norte 2nd district Rep. Robert Ace Barbers (Ellson Quismorio/ MANILABULLETIN)

The House quad-committee (quad-comm) plans to end 2024 with a bang by inviting the alleged "King of kings" of Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs) to its final hearing of the year this coming Thursday, Dec. 12.

Quad-comm overall chairman, Surigao del Norte 2nd district Rep. Robert Ace Barbers identified this high-profile witness as Richard Lim.

"That Mr. Richard Lim I think is invited, and another personality. Of course Alice Guo will be invited," Barbers told House reporters in a chance interview Tuesday, Dec. 10.

Barbers said that it was his co-chairman Santa Rosa City lone district Rep. Dan Fernandez who pushed for the mega-panel to invite Lim. 

During the previous quad-comm hearing last month, Fernandez brought up the existence of Lim and his alleged untouchable status in the POGO industry. Thus the tag, King of kings.

As for the identity of the other witness-slash-resource person, Barbers chose to be mum about it. "Yung testigong bago (As for the new witness), again, as we always do--surprise. We'll see."

The upcoming hearing Thursday is the 13th by the quad-comm since it launched its inquiry last August.

The mega-panel has been looking into the alleged interconnected issues of POGOs, extrajudicial killings (EJKs), money-laundering, illegal drugs, and the previous Duterte administration's bloody war on drugs. It's highest profile witness so far has been former president Rodrigo Duterte himself.

Barbers said that Thursday will be the last time that the topic of POGOs will be taken up.

"Tuloy-tuloy pa rin yung investigation sa EJK, sa drugs, at tsaka sa--last na ata itong POGO no (The investigation on EJK and drugs will continue--and it's the last one on POGO). Because we will terminate the POGO hearing. Last hearing na to sa POGO (This will be the the last hearing on POGO)," he said.

"EJK and drugs--These are very controversial issues that we will tackle continuously until probably we can say that we have already comprehensively tackled all the issues," Barbers said.

The House of Representatives will start its holiday break on Dec. 18.