📷Huang Zhiyang (ABS-CBN)
IN a sudden twist of fate, dismissed Bamban Mayor Alice Guo may qualify as state witness but only if she could prove that there are bigger names behind the illegal offshore gaming activities in the country.
This comes as the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) tagged a certain Huang Zhiyang as the alleged “boss of all bosses” of Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs) engaged in criminal activities.
Speaking over the radio, PAOCC Executive Director Gilbert Cruz confirmed that they’re digging deeper on Huang Zhiyang, who was found to have five passports in a raid in Clark, Pampanga.
He, however, won’t say if Huang was the POGO boss who helped Guo escape in July.
“Basta yun po yung may limang passport,” Cruz said, adding that Huang helped Guo to get hotel accommodations in Singapore.
‘Yung Huang Zhiyang, ‘yan din po yung nasa Singapore, ‘yan po ‘yung—kung napansin niyo ‘yung tumulong po kay Alice Guo para ma-accommodate siya sa isang hotel,” he said.
Interestingly, the Philippine government may find it difficult to compel Huang to face charges since he has already fled and is believed to be in Taiwan.
Previously, Senator Jinggoy Estrada hinted Huang Zhiyang as “most probably” the person being referred to by Guo as the one who helped her sneak out of the country.
Cruz likewise confirmed reports about efforts to to secure dismissal of the cases filed against Guo in relation to the raided illegal POGO hub in Bamban, Tarlac.
Among those who reportedly approached him included his friends.
“Actually sir, nung bago pa lang po raid-in yung Bamban POGO, may nagpaparamdam na po, mga lumalapit na nga po. Hanggang sa ma-file-an ng kaso, hanggang sa magtago siya,” he recalled.
“Ang dating po parang kuwentuhan lang po na lalapit sa iyo tapos babanggitin, kakamustahin ang kaso, pero ramdam mo naman po ‘yun kapag kumikiling sila sa ganyan,” Cruz averred.
“Sinasabi ko sa kanila kako ‘wag niyo na ulit kausapin yan kasi parang alam ko na kung anong patutunguhan ‘yung nu’ng usapan niyong ‘yan,” Cruz continued.
Meanwhile, Cruz said witnesses have pointed to four alleged burial sites of foreign nationals near the raided POGO firm Lucky South 99 in Porac, Pampanga.
“Kung meron man, ia-ano po natin yan, ibabangga po natin ‘yan sa listahan doon sa mga missing persons ng mga embassies,” Cruz ended. (ANGEL F. JOSE)
