THE Quad-committee of the Lower House of Congress will investigate who the coddlers and protectors of the Chinese mafia behind Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO), illegal drugs, and human rights violations in the country are.
This was revealed by House committee on dangerous drugs chairman Rep. Robert Ace Barbers, who will serve as the chairman of QuadComm, which includes committees on human rights, public order and safety, and public accounts.
“This issue of drugs, human rights violations, illegal POGO where most public officials are allegedly involved, there are protectors, there are coddlers. That’s what we are looking into,” said Barbers.
On August 15, the four mentioned committees will formally conduct an investigation, formed due to their separate investigations revealing that the Chinese mafia is the root of the problem.
The human rights committee conducted an investigation on extrajudicial killings, where it was discovered that POGO money was allegedly used to pay police officers who killed Filipinos suspected of being drug addicts, while Barbers focused on the P3.6 billion worth of drugs seized in a warehouse in Mexico, Pampanga, owned by Empire 999 whose incorporators are connected to former economic adviser of President Rodrigo Duterte, Michael Yang.
The committee on public order and safety is focusing on the POGO investigation, while the public accounts committee is investigating how Chinese nationals acquired lands in Pampanga, especially the warehouse where confiscated drugs were found.
“We believe that these issues are interconnected. From drugs, extrajudicial killings occurred. From drugs, syndicates had enough funds to corrupt agencies and obtain identifications as Filipinos. These corporations are established as legal fronts to ‘clean’ money from criminal activities,” said Barbers. Among these corporations is POGO, which the lawmaker considers illegal, and he believes they will not succeed without their protectors.
Therefore, no matter what laws they violate in the Philippines, they are not touched because of their protectors.
