A group of homeowners in a posh Parañaque City subdivision are convinced that illegal online gaming activities are clandestinely happening within their community despite the government’s total ban on Philippine Overseas Gaming Operators (POGOs) and similar operations.
I AM MULTI, whose members are composed of Multinational Village residents, said they have compiled the addresses of 16 possible POGO locations within their sprawling subdivision.
In a letter to the Manila Standard, the group expressed willingness to participate in law enforcement agencies’ efforts to identify supposed “guerilla POGO” activities that defy the ban, which took full effect on January 1.
“The recent announcements made by the Office of Solicitor General and PAOCC [Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission] are welcome developments for our village as we join our nation in the hunt for the remnants of the suspected POGO operations and establishments,” the group wrote.
However, the group said the invigorated government impetus to crack down on covert online gaming activities does not appear completely successful.
“The previous raids conducted indeed tamed down the excesses of Chinese activities in the village. However, we feel that they were coming back and are now more covert in their operations because of their volatile situation,” the residents added.
Of the 16 addresses the group suspects are housing secret POGO activities, three are located at Multinational Avenue, four on Jerico Street, two on Philip Street, and two on Tel Aviv Street while the others are spread out across multiple streets within the residential village.
“The deadline for the total ban on POGO operations as declared by President PBBM was 31 December 2024, yet crime continues to play out in Multinational Village that involves Chinese residents, the latest one a successful kidnapping incident in a house along Andrew Street on 17 December 2024, and another one also in the same month along John Paul Street,” the group further stated in their letter.
I AM MULTI co-convenor Janet Ong said that a partial list of these addresses was turned over to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and Rep. Dan Fernandez late last year but the community is still awaiting results.
She also pointed out that certain government officials have been quick to announce the shutdown of POGO-related activities around the country even while in Multinational Village, “mega structures that resemble the ‘Bamban POGO hub’ continue to be built despite our village being [for] residential [purposes only].”
It can be recalled that on April 2, 2024, I AM MULTI revealed through the Manila Standard the menacing presence of a large group of foreign nationals who rented out large houses in the subdivision and seemed to be engaged in secretive enterprises.
The publicity created by the initial article sparked media interest and apparently caused the government to react, triggering a chain of events that led to a Congressional probe into POGOs and POGO-linked personalities, which in turn, ended with the ban on such operations.
Meanwhile, Interior and Local Government Sec. Jonvic Remulla set a January 10 deadline for Local Government Units (LGUs) to submit status “certificates of no POGOs” covering their jurisdictions.
The Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) chief earlier said he is convinced that POGO-related activities in Cavite Province, as well as Manila, Pasay and Parañaque cities in Metro Manila have already been shut down.
Still, he said that law enforcers will continue seeking out POGO facilities and online scamming operations even if they have to inspect properties within special economic zones and free ports, which are subject to more lenient regulations.
“We have no boundaries, there are no walls high enough for us to climb… we can enter all of those places,” Remulla said in a mixture of Filipino and English.
As this developed, the Bureau of Immigration (BI) announced that it successfully apprehended almost 400 illegal aliens during a large-scale raid conducted in Parañaque on Wednesday, targeting an alleged scam operation.
BI Intelligence Division Chief Fortunato Manahan Jr. reported that the operation uncovered the aliens working in POGO-like activities at a company located in Barangay Tambo.
He said the suspects were allegedly engaged in illicit activities, including online scam operations targeting victims abroad.
“The Bureau’s intelligence division, fugitive search unit (FSU), and Anti-Terrorist Group (ATG) have been monitoring the activities of these individuals for some time,” Manahan said.
“Their operations were found to be in violation of immigration laws and posed significant risks to the public,” he added.
For his part, Immigration Commissioner Joel Anthony Viado emphasized the importance of the operation.
“This raid is part of our intensified efforts to combat illegal activities and ensure that foreign nationals residing in the country comply with our laws. We will not tolerate any activities that endanger the safety and welfare of the public,” he said.