“If the government is committed to resolving the POGO issue and restoring public trust, further investigation into Ms. Chan’s activities and affiliations may be warranted”
What did President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. do in April this year that clearly showed he is his own man and can think and act independently without worrying about what other people think or being swayed by outside influences?
That may well be his veto of a naturalization bill involving Liduan Wang, also known as ‘Mark Ong,’ despite the measure being passed by both chambers of Congress, the House of Representatives in late 2023, and the Senate on Jan. 27 this year.
Wang’s bid for Filipino citizenship had strong backing from lawmakers, including the sponsor of House Bill 8839, and 19 senators who voted in favor of the measure, among them Senate President Chiz Escudero and principal proponent Senator Francis Tolentino.
However, President Marcos Jr. was unmoved by the political support for Liduan Wang’s naturalization.
In his veto message to Congress, he cited “alarming and revealing warnings” from national security agencies, which described Wang’s character and influence as potentially dangerous—posing “ominous and dire consequences,” if not a “clear and present danger” to the country.
Risa Hontiveros was the lone senator who voted against Wang’s naturalization.
Her independent investigation revealed Wang’s deep involvement in casino junket operations and Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators, or POGOs.
She also uncovered his ties to Duanren Wu—a fugitive, a former Chinese police officer, and a suspected member of the Communist Party of China.
Wu was linked to illegal hubs in Bamban and Porac, sites of human trafficking, torture, and online scams.
These were considered not just business ventures, but threats to national security.
Wu’s disappearance followed his alleged connection to the operations of former Bamban Mayor Alice Guo, who was found to have falsified her Filipino citizenship.
With Guo and several associates now in custody, and President Marcos ordering a nationwide shutdown of POGO operations beginning this year, Wang’s failed naturalization bid appeared to signal a turning point.
Yet, sources claim that one individual—referred to as the “Lady in Red”—is furious at Senator Hontiveros for conducting a probe of the issue.
Known in some circles as “Ms. Chan,” she is alleged to have boasted about offering inducements to lawmakers during the deliberation of HB 8839, only to be thwarted by Hontiveros’s opposition.
While Guo may have served as the public face of questionable POGO-linked activities, Ms. Chan is believed to be a behind-the-scenes operator.
That her name also never surfaced during the long series of hearings in the Senate and by the ‘Quadcomm’ in Congress last year related to POGO, offers ample proof, it is said, of her wide influence and connections.
Described as a “fixer,” Ms. Chan reportedly claims to have connections not only within Congress but also in other corridors of power, allegedly extending to the Palace grounds.
If the government is committed to resolving the POGO issue and restoring public trust, further investigation into Ms. Chan’s activities and affiliations may be warranted—particularly to safeguard the integrity of institutions she claims to influence.
The question now stands: What action will the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission headed by Executive Director Gilbert Cruz, take in response to all this?
What it should do is to pursue this investigation with urgency and transparency to show the public that no one is above the law—not the mayor who faked her citizenship, not the fugitive financier, and not the alleged fixer who hides behind charm and influence.
The essence of the rule of law is that all people and institutions within a political body are subject to the same laws.
This concept is sometimes stated simply as “no one is above the law” or “all are equal before the law.”
It is defined as “the mechanism, process, institution, practice, or norm that supports the equality of all citizens before the law, secures a non-arbitrary form of government, and more generally prevents the arbitrary use of power. (Email: ernhil@yahoo.com)
