MANILA, Philippines — The amount of money that was suspiciously brought into the country has reached $633 million or over P32 billion in just a span of six months, and government hardly raised an eyebrow over it, Senator Richard Gordon lamented on Thursday.
During the Senate blue ribbon committee’s hearing on alleged money laundering, crimes, and other nefarious activities associated with the operations of Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs), Gordon said the amount of money that were suspiciously brought into the country reached $633,028,880 or P32,024,931,043 from September 2019 to March 2020.
Gordon said this came from 60 individuals.
“Ganyan kalaki ang lumalabas na pera sa ating airport,” Gordon said.
In a privilege speech on Tuesday, Senator Richard Gordon claimed Chinese and Filipino couriers were able to hand-carry more than $447 million into the country through the Ninoy Aquino International Airport from September 2019 to February this year.
Gordon claimed that much of the dollars that were questionably brought to the country could have been intended for POGOs.
“Alam natin na pagka kayo ay may $10,000, kailangan i-declare nyo paglagpas ng $10,000 at wala dapat mangyari sa inyo,” Gordon said.
“Pero halimbawa ang pumapasok na amount ay napakalaki, inorderly and indecently so large, even recklessly so large, dapat siguro pakialaman na,” the senator added.