Some senators on Wednesday, July 17 have expressed the need to provide increased security for their colleagues who are investigating Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO)-related crimes.
This after Senators Sherwin Gatchalian bared the supposed threat against his life and Sen. Risa Hontiveros as well.
“I will always help a fellow member of the Senate and stand ready to assist in whatever way I can if needed by them. They know that,” Escudero said.
“However, the decision to engage additional security personnel is a personal one that I cannot make for them... They haven't asked for my assistance (yet),” the Senate leader said.
Senate Minority Leader Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III also stressed the need to protect the two lawmakers noting that the people behind the POGO industry are “shameless.”
“Mga walanghiya talaga itong mga to. Ang na-a-attract ng sugal ay mga walanghiyang tao talaga 'yan. Tapos binuksan pa natin sa mga foreigners, hindi natin alam kung anong lebel ng kawalanghiyaan ng tao sa ibang lugar (These people are shameless. Those who are attracted to gambling are shameless people. Then we opened it up to foreigners. We don’t even have an idea on the level of shamelessness of people from other places),” Pimentel pointed out.
Therefore, he said, the country’s most passionate investigators who are focused on the issue on POGOs should at least improve or increase their security.
“I advise them to improve, increase their security. We should not be happy that we are allowing this kind of people to enter the Philippines,” Pimentel said.
Gatchalian earlier admitted that he formally asked the Philippine National Police (PNP) to investigate the threats against him which he believed to be a consequence of his role in the Senate probe on the raided POGO hub in Bamban, Tarlac that has been linked to suspended Mayor Alice Guo.
The senator, in his report, cited a video circulating online containing "explicit threats" claiming that Mayor Guo allegedly paid P5 million to silence him. The video also claimed that another P5 million was offered to do the same for Hontiveros, who currently leads the investigation into the raided POGO hub in Bamban.
Sen. Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa believes that the threats against the two senators are real noting that POGO is actually a multi-billion industry.
“Para din drug industry or drug cartel yan eh, pwede ka nilang i-threaten. Money is really the root of all evil. Kapag dineprive mo sila ng income ite-threaten ka at mag bi build up sila ng security (It’s similar to a drug industry, cartel that they can actually threaten you. Money is really the root of all evil. If it will deprive them of a big income, they will really threaten you. They will build up their security),” Dela Rosa said in a separate interview.
The former PNP chief said he too supports providing additional security for the two senators saying it is possible they would be targeted at their weakest points.
“Nangto -torture nan ga sila ng ibang tao, ngayon pati senador tatakutin nila? Ako takutin ninyo wag ang aking mga kasamahan na di sanay sa pananakot (They torture other ordinary people, now they also threaten to torture even senators? Try threatening me, and not my colleagues who are not used to such kind of threats),” Dela Rosa dared.
At the same time, Dela Rosa said he is also now beginning to understand the gravity of the situation and supports a total ban on POGO operations noting that it has become a real national security issue.
“Ang stand ko dati (my stand before) was to give them some grace period, the supposed scaling down of their operations, pero ngayon, pwede na right away i-ban sila kung gugustuhin ng Malacanang (but now if Malacanang wants to ban them right away, they should do so),” the former top cop said.
“When we started the investigation under my committee (on public order), I saw the problem as a mere criminality and that it all boils down to public order. But now it has elevated to national security issue, dapat ihinto nay an (we should stop them),” Dela Rosa said, citing the authorities’ discovery of Chinese nationals using fake Philippine birth certificates to enter the country.