PNP relieves Pampanga provincial police chief over Pogo fiasco

A total of 186 foreign and Filipino workers were rescued on June 4, 2024, from another sprawling Philippine offshore gaming operator (Pogo) complex in Porac, Pampanga. INQUIRER file photo / Jun Malig

MANILA, Philippines — The director of the Pampanga Police Provincial Office (PPO) was relieved from his post amid an ongoing investigation into the raided Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (Pogo) hub in the province’s Porac town last June 4.

Police Regional Office (PRO) 3 director Brig. Gen. Jose Hidalgo said on Tuesday that Pampanga PPO chief Col. Levi Hope Basilio was relieved “to pave the way for a fair and impartial investigation in relation to the Pogo raid in Porac.”

READ: Pogo raid in Pampanga yields suspected Chinese military uniforms, pins

“He was relieved effective yesterday (June 10),” Hidalgo told INQUIRER.net in a Viber message through PRO 3’s Public Information Office.

Last week, PAOCC and joint operatives of the Philippine National Police units conducted the raid, resulting in the “apprehension” of over 190 individuals inside the Pogo complex along Friendship Highway, Angeles City.

PAOCC said its operation stemmed from a warrant issued by the Presiding Judge Maria Belinda Rama of Malolos Regional Trial Court, Branch 14, against officers and employees of Lucky South 99, which the commission said is “the biggest facility in Pampanga with a reported total number of 46 buildings including villas and other structures, as well as a golf course.”

The warrant was issued following a report PAOCC received from confidential informants detailing how a female foreigner was sexually trafficked in the area, and male foreigners were tortured.

Following the raid, PAOCC found on Monday what appeared to be Chinese military uniforms and pins from the establishment’s dorms, villas, and offices.

Aside from this, PAOCC spokesperson Winston John Casio said authorities also found identification cards of a foreigner bearing different names, among what he called “a good number of disturbing discoveries” from the compound.