A Senate committee yesterday issued a subpoena against three executives of a Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (POGO) company in Pasay City that was allegedly involved in illegal activities such as sex trafficking as well as love scams.
Senator Sherwin Gatchalian said “due to the gravity of the issue,” he moved to subpoena the following Smart Web POGO executives: Kevin Bautista de Jesus, director; Fidel Mignon Curitana Sarausad, director; and Delia Abaratigue Montibon, director and treasurer.
“There is a sex den and a torture chamber. This cannot be done by ordinary criminals. I believe this is organized and they are already here in our country. This building is just beside the DFA main office, near a police station, and near the Senate building,” Gatchalian said.
The motion was approved by Senator Risa Hontiveros, who led the Senate probe as chairperson of the Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations, and Gender Equality.
Earlier in the day, Gatchalian and Hontiveros inspected the POGO hub.
Hontiveros described the torture chamber as “a picture of agony and suffering” with blood stains scattered around the walls of the room.
“I was also shocked by what we saw in the ‘torture chamber’ where Smart Web employees were tied up. There was no light, no food. The victims suffered bruises inflicted by their audacious and abusive employer,” Hontiveros said.
“During our ocular, I could hardly stop crying when I saw the ‘aquarium’ where the women are displayed like dishes in the rooms where the POGO employees and their bosses are making them sex slaves,” she added.
Gatchalian pushed for a total ban on POGO operations in the country, saying these are making the country “a human trafficking and slavery hub in the world.”
“This happened because they were hiding behind a legitimate and licensed POGO operator. We see that there is a failure on regulation and because there is a failure on regulation, we are now the victims of these syndicates,” Gatchalian said.
“POGO has been banned in many countries and because we are the only one left here, the syndicates come and victimize not only foreigners but our own countrymen. What I fear is that it will get worse and worse and more of our countrymen will be victims,” he added.
At the House of Representatives, a lawmaker said regulating POGOs will not be sufficient.
“Remove, not regulate, POGOs,” said House committee on human rights chairperson and Manila Rep. Bienvenido Abante Jr.
“We cannot regulate an industry with unscrupulous players that are quick to take advantage of regulatory gaps and weaknesses. We must remove POGOs because the evidence shows we cannot regulate them.”
“An inherently corrupt industry will inevitably breed corruption. One vice feeds another. How many more of these sex dens must we discover before we take action? How many more Filipinos should be victimized by POGOs before we shut them down once and for all,” Abante said.
