PAOCC to seek court order to exhume alleged remains at Porac Pogo hub

MANILA, Philippines — The Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) is looking into applying for a court order for permission to exhume “bodies” reportedly buried in a raided Philippine offshore gaming operator (Pogo) hub in Porac, Pampanga.

PAOCC Undersecretary Gilbert Cruz, in a press conference at the Senate, said at least two Pogo workers in Porac have come to their office and disclosed that there were foreign nationals killed in the hub and later on buried within the premises.

“May lumapit kasi sa aming mga witnesses tapos may sinabi silang may mga ibinaon daw na mga foreign nationals na pinatay doon sa Porac pogo hub. Dalawa ‘yun, so hindi sila magkakilala. Nagtaka lang ako bakit yung dalawa they are pinpointing doon sa parehas na mga sites,” said Cruz.

(Witnesses have come to our office and they told us that there were foreign nationals who were killed and buried in the Porac Pogo hub. There were two of them, so they didn’t know each other. I’m just wondering why the two were pinpointing the same site.)

READ: Gov’t orders freezing of Porac Pogo assets

Cruz said they are still verifying the complaints, but they would soon apply for a court order to grant permission to exhume the areas identified by the witnesses.

“We will be applying for a court order para ma-exhume ‘yung bodies kung meron man doon sa itinuro nilang mga sites,” he said.

(We will be applying for a court order to exhume the bodies, if there are any, in the sites they pointed out.)

Before applying for such an order, Cruz said they have already coordinated with different embassies, specifically Chinese and Vietnamese embassies, whether they have a list of missing persons.

Cruz said it will be the basis of identifying the identities of the dead, should they find remains in the Porac hub.

READ: 10 Chinese tag Ong, 53 others for trafficking via Porac Pogo