AUTHORITIES raided the so-called “mother of all Pogos hubs” on Adriatico Street in Manila.

The Presidential Commission Against Organized Crime (PAOCC) said in a statement that the operation, which took place at the Century Peak Tower on October 29 under a search warrant for violating the Cybercrime Act and Section 26 of Republic Act 8799 or the Securities Regulation Code, resulted in the arrest of 69 illegal foreign workers, including Chinese, Malaysians and Indonesians, involved in online scams, illegal gambling and human trafficking.

The operation was personally led by Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief General Rommel Francisco Marbil, National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) Director Major General Sidney Hernia, and PNP Anti-Cybercrime Group (ACG) Director Maj. Gen. Ronnie Cariaga.

PAOCC said the building was owned by one Willy Keng, who called himself “untouchable” because of his close ties to government agencies.

“The 40-story Century Peak Tower in Adriatico Street, Manila is the “mother of all Pogo hubs” handling the Philippines’ offshore gaming (Pogo) operations as of now. umano’y nagtipon sa gusaling ito,” PAOCC said.

(The Century Peak Tower, a 40-story building located on Adriatico Street, Manila, is now called “the mother of all Pogo hubs” due to the Philippine offshore gaming (Pogo) operations from different parts of the country that were reportedly gathered in this building.)

“This is an important thing regarding PAOCC, Century Peak Tower is an illegal activity of Pogo, which has the Pogo hub database and that of Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo,” a- he added.

Despite the “successful operation” in the government’s fight against illegal Pogos, the problem arose when the Bureau of Immigration (BI) refused to accept apprehended undocumented foreign workers for legal custody.

“This is also an important thing for law enforcement, and it means that Keng’s involvement is necessary for people to take care of business protection,” PAOCC said.

(According to PAOCC informants, the Century Peak Tower has been a hideout for illegal Pogo activities, including those based in the Pogo Center of former Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo.)

“The Century Peak Tower is a morning of kung-paano and construction materials that can be used for illegal activities,” he added.

(Century Peak Tower is an example of how high levels of connection and influence can provide a shield against illegal activity.)

In an interview with journalists, Cariaga said they had to release the 69 apprehended illegal workers, considering that no charges have yet been filed against them, as their computers are still undergoing digital forensic examination.

“Wala nga silang mga passports, sila without papers, then dapat i-process sila ng BI and prinocess naman ng BI. Use biometric processing. Ginawa ng BI yan kahapon na believes that BI will have legal custody,” he said.

(They don’t have passports, they are undocumented, so BI would have to process them and BI processed them. There was biometric processing. BI did it yesterday thinking BI would have legal custody.)

“Eto ngayon ang last na dumating, a letter coming from the BI that they cannot (take) legal custody. For us, we do not have legal custody sa kanila because there is no real case pa. It still remains to look at the result of the exam. Wala kaming digital forensic ngayon pero alam ko naman na matagal yan, tapos isa pa nag vacation pa, wala rin mag aaccept sa ifa-file namin kaso therefore (we can be accused of) arbitrary detention. Maghihintay kami Monday,” he added.

He expressed confidence that police will still be able to arrest undocumented workers once an arrest order has already been issued against them.

Cariaga said they were in close coordination with relevant embassies for the processing of undocumented foreign nationals. (TPM/SunStar Philippines)