BACKED BY VILLAGE CHIEFS Mayor Jaime Capil of Porac, Pampanga, thanks the barangay chairs of his town who, in a Liga ng mga Barangay meeting on July 11, gave him their unwavering support amid questions raised at the Senate over how his administration had responded to the questionable activities of a Pogo hub in Porac. —Porac Public Information Office Facebook photo
ANGELES CITY, PAMPANGA, Philippines — The mayor of Porac, Pampanga, where a Philippine offshore gaming operator (Pogo) was raided last month for alleged illegal activities, has received “solid and unwavering support” from all of his village chiefs unlike embattled Mayor Alice Guo of Bamban, Tarlac, where a Pogo company was shut down in March.
Mayor Jaime Capil has been under scrutiny by senators investigating alleged criminal activities, including human trafficking and online scams, by Lucky South 99 Pogo company operating in his town.
Following the June 4 and June 5 raids on Lucky South led by the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC), Capil’s critics accused him of being a coddler and close friend of the Pogo company’s bosses, and published pictures of the mayor dining with them. He was also castigated during a provincial board meeting.
READ: Chinese who is one of ‘big bosses’ of raided Pogo in Porac arrested
Manifesto
In last Wednesday’s Senate hearing, Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian said he personally believed that Capil gave special treatment to the Lucky South Pogo hub.
The mayor denied being a Pogo supporter and said that he even refused to issue a business permit to Lucky South in January this year. He earlier argued that it was the responsibility of the state gaming regulator, Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor), not local governments, to monitor Pogo activities.
In a “Manifesto of Support for our Porac Chief Executive” posted on the Facebook page of the local newspaper, Punto, on June 28, all the 29 barangay chairs of the town said they believed Capil was not involved in any irregularity in relation to the Pogo company and that he was also responsible for making their town more progressive.
The manifesto was reposted on the official Facebook page of Porac town and its Public Information Office later on the same day.
A rarity in Porac
“We reject and disprove all baseless attempts against his leadership, to discredit his personality and character that will weaken the confidence and trust of his constituents in this Pogo crisis,” said the manifesto signed by the village chiefs.
An identical statement also was signed and released by all the 29 leaders of Porac’s Sangguniang Kabataan.
“I am sincerely grateful to you for your support,” Capil said during a meeting with the village chiefs on Thursday. “This is rare in the municipality of Porac when all village chiefs support their mayor. This is the first time it has happened.”
During a hearing called by the Senate committee on women, children and family relations a day earlier, Capil was questioned by Gatchalian about his office’s supposed inaction on the alleged illegal activities at the Lucky South compound and the nearby Hotel Royal leased by the Pogo company.
Sen. Risa Hontiveros, the committee head, said Capil did not respond to a July 19, 2021, letter from Police Maj. Arvin Hosmillo, the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group chief for Pampanga, who reported alleged serious illegal detention, cybercrime, prostitution and illegal drug activities going on at Hotel Royal, formerly known as Hotel Aramis.
The mayor repeatedly insisted that he did not receive the letter.
‘Convenient excuse’
When Hontiveros pointed out that the letter had a receipt stamp from the municipal government, Capil replied: “I am sorry but, in all honesty, I didn’t get that letter. If I had only received it, I would have taken action.”
Hontiveros described Capil’s answer as “regrettable” and Gatchalian called it a “very convenient excuse.”
Capil also said that there was no Hotel Royal in his town.
But Google Maps and Google Street Views show that the hotel is located beside the 10-hectare Lucky South compound and the Royal golf course, which is on the Porac side of the 106-ha Royal Garden Estate that straddles Angeles City and Porac.
The Angeles City business permit and licensing division had no Royal or Aramis Hotel registered in its system, indicating that it is outside its jurisdiction, according to a staff who spoke with the Inquirer on condition of anonymity for not being authorized to speak with the media.
No knowledge
Hosmillo’s letter to Capil, which was coursed through the Porac’s municipal business permit and licensing office, said that “Royal Hotel (is) located at Pulung Maba, Sta. Cruz, Porac,” which is also the location of Lucky South.
Capil also told the senators that he did not know about the alleged crimes at Lucky South.
He read from a “comprehensive report” by the Porac police that it had received eight separate “intelligence reports” from May 2023 to March 20, 2024 about alleged criminal activities in buildings operated by Lucky South but found no irregularities or crimes committed upon inspection.
Former Pampanga police director Col. Levi Hope Basilio reported on March 24 that the Porac Pogo hub was being used for human trafficking, kidnapping, cybercrime and prostitution.
But Porac officials only took action on his report in May. They, however, failed to conduct a proper inspection as the Lucky South authorities refused to allow them to enter the estate.
Pink shirts for Alice
In Bamban, about 22 kilometers from Porac, there was no similar manifesto from local officials for its suspended mayor, but hundreds of residents wearing pink shirts rallied on June 8 to express support for her. Some carried placards saying, “We love you, Mayor Alice.”
Posters expressing support for Guo were displayed on electric posts and fences along the town’s major roads.
Elected officials, including Vice Mayor Leonardo Anunciacion, the acting mayor, councilors and village chiefs have chosen to keep a collective silence on the issues facing the mayor, including questions about her true nationality and her alleged involvement in Pogo operation.
The Court of Appeals ordered the freezing of Guo’s assets as the Department of Justice investigates a PAOCC complaint of qualified human trafficking against her and 13 other respondents allegedly involved in the Bamban Pogo, Zun Yuan Technology Inc., which was padlocked in March.