Porac, Pampanga Mayor Jamie Capil during the Senate Hearing on illegal POGOs in Pasay City on July 10, 2024. Mark Demayo, ABS-CBN News/FileMANILA – Graft charges were filed against Porac, Pampanga Mayor Jaime Capil, and other local officials over the raided illegal Philippine offshore gaming operator (POGO) hub Lucky South 99 in the municipality. 

DOJ-led Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT) Prosecutor Sonny Ocampo on Wednesday said the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) and the Philippine National Police Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP-CIDG) filed the charges as a result of a case buildup.

READ: Ombudsman suspends Porac mayor, other top execs over POGO

“This was a result of a case buildup and a coordinating conference between our partners of the DOJ, PAOCC, and CIDG at kasama rin ang aking IACAT team composed of Prosecutor James Escalona and Chief Leo Santos of the province of Pampanga,” Ocampo said. 

READ: More than 100 smaller illegal POGO units operating in PH: PAOCC

Other than Capil, other respondents mentioned were Municipal Vice Mayor Francis Laurence Tamayo,  head of Porac Business Permit and Licensing Office Emerald Salonga Vital, including councilors Rafael Canlapan, John Nuevy Venzon, Rohner Buan, Michelle Santos, Hilario Dimalanta, Essel Joy David, and Adrian Carreon. 

According to San Fernando Assistant Prosecutor JT Leonardo Santos, the respondents are accused of violating Section 3(e), 3(f), and 3(j) of Republic Act 3019. 

He said the accused granted a business permit to Lucky South 99 from 2021-2023 despite documentation problems. 

“Pangalawa pag tiningnan nyo yung application forms blanko blanko pero na-proseso. Pangatlo, ang primary purpose ng kumpanya ng Lucky South ay outsourcing hindi po POGO. Sa labag ito sa kaniyang primary and secondary purposes,” Santos said. 

READ: Mas mataas pang boss sa POGO sa Pilipinas tinutugis

“Ang tawag po dun sa neglect of duty dun sa kasi sila ay nandun sa panunungkulan lalo na po ang ating Vice Mayor na second in command, base po sa ebidensya,” he said. 

Meanwhile, Bulacan Provincial Prosecutor James Escalona mentioned that there is an eye witness who has seen the involved local officials inside Lucky South 99 regularly. 

“Isa sa mga personality dyan sa respondents. Malaki po kasi eye witness nga po siya. May direct evidence tayo,” Escalona said. 

MORE PORAC POGO HUB CASES 

Ocampo stated that additional cases related to the Porac POGO hub may come next week, depending on the presented evidence. 

READ: POGO big boss Lin Xunhan to be invited to next Senate hearing

“Meron pa pong ongoing case buildup case conference ang mga partner natin sa law enforcement but particularly the CIDG and the PAOCC. And we are still crafting, evaluating yung mga inputs at ebidensya na pini-presinta nila and hopefully baka next week, we will come up with the third set of cases as far as Porac,” he said. 

“Because this is the beauty of the case buildup, hindi agad pinapayagan ang mga taga-usig na member ng panel na mag file agad. Tinitingnan muna and ebidensiya kung ito ay tatayo kung saka-sakaling magkaroon ng litis sa ating husgado,” he said.

RELATED VIDEO: