Philippine authorities raided on Saturday a suspected illegal online gaming operation inside a resort in Lapu-Lapu City, in Cebu, and took into custody 162 foreign nationals, mainly Chinese and Indonesian people, said on Sunday a spokesperson for the nation’s Presidential Anti-Organised Crime Commission.
Spokesperson Winston Casio said the raid targeted an “illegal POGO” (Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator), where people were allegedly committing Internet-based crimes.
The raid was conducted by personnel of the Presidential Anti-Organised Crime Commission and the National Bureau of Investigation, as well as other governmental departments
Mr Casio alleged that the raided facility inside Tourist Garden Hotel (pictured) was operating as an illegal offshore online gaming business.
“This is a 100-percent illegal POGO,” Mr Casio said, referring to what are now known as Internet Gaming Licensees (IGLs).
“We’ve seen enough evidence to be able to file a cybercrime offence, for facilitating cybercrime-related gambling, [and] cybercrime-related qualified trafficking,” he added in a briefing that was streamed on the social media platform of The Freeman, a Cebu-based news outlet.
The spokesperson said the raid was initiated following a request from the Indonesian Embassy, after three Indonesian nationals managed to escape from the complex.
During the raid, authorities discovered that the people inside the complex were involved in what were believed to be illegal online gaming operations, in makeshift workstations.
“All foreign nationals will be brought to Manila to face inquest proceedings for violation of immigration laws,” said the Anti-Organised Crime Commission in a statement.
The commissioner of the Bureau of Immigration, Norman Tansingco, was quoted in a press release as saying that he believed that the resort owners should also be held accountable and face charges if they were found harbouring illegal aliens on their premises.
“We will suggest to the authorities to file cases against resort owners that allow their properties to be used by illegal aliens in their covert operations,” Mr Tansingco said in a statement.
Once the proceedings are completed, the arrested foreigners will be deported, the immigration bureau said.
“This will serve as a warning to those who might attempt to start illegal online gambling operations, which has already been banned by the President,” stated Mr Tansingco.
In July, the nation’s President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, said that offshore online gaming operators in the Philippines would need to end their business in that country by year-end.
During his third State of the Nation Address since coming to power, Mr Marcos said POGOs had “ventured into illicit areas furthest from gaming”.
