MACAPAGAL, Pasay City — Over 400 foreigners were last night in an alleged Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO) scam hub in Pasay City despite assurances from city officials led by Mayor Imelda 'Emi' Calixto-Rubiano that operations of POGOs banned by President Ferdinand 'Bongbong' Marcos Jr. are not being tolerated.

Authorities led by the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) apprehended 401 foreign workers in a 10-storey building near Macapagal Boulevard that served as a front for scamming operations and other criminal activities.

Aside from the PAOCC, the joint raiding team included representatives from the Pasay City government with operatives from the Philippine National Police-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP-CIDG) and Department of Justice Office of Cybercrime (DOJ-OOC) and the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC).

Pasay City Business Permits and Licensing Office (BPLO) head Atty. Patrick Legaspi disclosed that his office received reports that a POGO hub was still operating and this has prompted him to coordinate with concerned law enforcement agencies to verify the information.

“We received an intelligence report na mayroong nag-o-operate ng POGO dito. Last year, may pinasara na kami dito sa 6th floor and alam ko sa 8th floor na POGO,” Legaspi said while adding that the company occupying the 6th to 10th floors of the building had no business permit or business license from the local government, which became the basis for the mission order (MO) that allowed authorized entry to the company's premises.

PAOCC executive director Gilbert Cruz cited that they are seriously checking whether the raided POGO hub have been using 'connections' with local Pasay officials, including some the local police under Police Colonel Samuel Pabonita.

“Obviously itong grupo ng mga mag-po-POGO na ito, harap-harapan nang binabastos ang mga batas natin. Masyado na silang garapal despite may closure order na sila from PAGCOR ay nag ooperate pa rin sila ng full blast,” undersecretary Cruz pointed out.

Breakdown of the foreign nationals apprehended in the raid include 207 Chinese Nationals, 132 Vietnamese, 24 South Koreans, 14 Indonesians, 12 Myanmarese,11 Malaysians and one from Madagascar. PAOCC also said there were 52 Filipino workers found in the scam hub.