Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) spokesperson Winston Casio admitted they were caught by surprise by the POGO hubs they discovered while conducting a rescue operation in a resort in Lapu-Lapu City, Cebu.

In an interview on Teleradyo Serbisyo on Saturday, Casio said they acted on a request by the Indonesian Embassy  after three Indonesians escaped from the POGO hub.

"Dun sa Lapu-Lapu may natanggap request mula sa Indonesian embassy. July 21 pala may nakatakas mula sa hotel, kumbaga pinipigilan sila lumabas at 'yung mga nakatakas nag report sa Indonesian embassy na meron pa raw nasa loob mga 13 so pinuntahan natin, kumuha tayo ng mission order mara magconduct ng rescue," he said.

"Ang nakakabigla, pagdating namin dun nakita namin may mga POGO sa loob, three na farm."

Casio said they were able to rescue 159 foreigners. After evaluation, 16 of them were charged for their roles in POGO operations, which was allegedly used for scamming.

Some of those caught were Chinese, he said.

"May nakasuhan ng 16. Yung iba inevaluate pa atin kung ano ba treatment, sila ba ay narescue o scammers," said Casio. They are currently documenting the foreigners for deportation.

"Pag nadocument lahat ito, ang sabi kahapon ng Chinese embassy, clarify lang namin ha, magmula nung Bamban na deportation, ang Chinese government na ang nagbabayad ng deportation ng kanilang mga national. 'Yung mga Vietnamese, Indonesian, Malaysian sila na din nagbabayad ng sarili nilang deportation."