Politics

“We didn’t know the POGO operations in Bamban” – Gov Susan Yap

Tarlac Governor Susan Yap said that she and the provincial government of Tarlac were not aware of the illegal POGO (Philippine Offshore Gaming Operation) in the municipality of Bamban.

Ibong Tiririt

Published on May 17, 2024

Tarlac Governor Susan Yap that she and the provincial Government of Tarlac were not aware of the illegal POGO (Philippine Offshore gaming Operation) in the municipality of Bamban.

This was the statement given by Gov. Yap during an interview with DWIZ Ronda Pilipinas last May 16 when asked by anchor Drew Nacino what was her reaction when the 𝗣𝗢𝗚𝗢 hub Sun Yuan Technology Inc. was raided last March 13.

“Of course I was surprised like everyone else kasi we didn’t know, talagang hindi naming alam na may 𝗣𝗢𝗚𝗢 (operation) because we have been against it. The Sangguniang Panlalawigan, the provincial government mula pa nuong 2021 that we are against any illegal gambling and activities like this,” she said.

The governor said that Bamban Mayor Alice Guo has performed well in her duties as mayor when asked of her rapport with the Bamban mayor.

“Mayor Alice has performed well yung kanyang duties as mayor. She run for mayor in 2022 and she won, tapos a few months later her council approached me and introduced her to me because nga her performance in the municipality has been well. She is liked by the community, she has improved the lives of the people and she applied to join our party. In fact, this is the first time that the municipality has been awarded the 𝗦𝗚𝗟𝗚 due to her good performance,” Gov. Yap pointed-out.

Nacino asked the governor if she has an idea about the personal background of Guo, Gov. Yap said that as far as she knows, the mayor is a Filipino.

“As far as I know, she is a Filipino because she was able to run for public office, she was proclaimed, she has a Philippine passport…beyond that, as to the question of her nationality, hangang dun lang ang alam ko, she said adding that, “People from the community know her naman that her family has a hog business dun sa lugar for many years so both our engagement is because of work what to do for her town and all. So, ganun lang ka lalim yung aming pagkakilala sa kanya.”

As for the possible sanctions to be imposed by the provincial government against the mayor once it was proven that she faked her documents, Gov. Yap said that they will study all the possible legal actions against her.

“We will look into the legal matters with that, she has to prove herself with regards to her nationality,” she said.

𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗣𝗚𝗧 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝗻𝗼 𝗞𝗻𝗼𝘄𝗹𝗲𝗱𝗴𝗲 𝗼𝗻 𝗣𝗢𝗚𝗢 𝗢𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻

Gov. Yap shared the reason why she and the provincial government has no knowledge in the 𝗣𝗢𝗚𝗢 operation in Bamban.

“Siguro (nagtataka) ang ibang tao bakit wala kaming kinalaman, wala akong knowledge nung 𝗣𝗢𝗚𝗢 sa area. The licensing agency has excluded us provincial governments when they issued these licenses and walang clearance from us, walang notification, walang endorsement needed, so truly, I don’t understand na if we see na ganito na pala itong 𝗣𝗢𝗚𝗢 na ngayon nagagamit sa scamming or for illegal activities na trafficking and now it has become even a threat to national security,” Gov. Yap said.

She further said that the 𝗣𝗢𝗚𝗢 investigation is not the first time.

“This is not the first time they’ve been doing investigation previously. Bakit hindi nagcha-change ang policy ng government with regards to this. So, kami ganun lang yung alam namin—nothing because we’ve never been informed and tahimik kami dito our kapulisan in fact has been consistently number one in the region. Meaning, we were blindsided with regards to this,” she said.

The governor also hoped that the licensing agencies will inform any provincial government that there are (𝗣𝗢𝗚𝗢) operations in their areas to safeguard and check.

𝗢𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗼𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗘𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗼𝗻 𝗧𝗮𝗿𝗹𝗮𝗰’𝘀 𝗜𝗺𝗮𝗴𝗲

When asked by Nacino on what are the possible effects of the controversy on the over-all image of the province, Gov. Yap said that she hopes it does not tarnish the image of Tarlac province.

“I hope it doesn’t tarnish. Tarlac has been a very peaceful province. My mayors here work hard para makilala ang probinsiya namin. In terms of tourism, previously kilala lang kami as a wi-wi stop-over and we have taken a lot of efforts para makilala to promote our province not only in the Philippines as we have done efforts para makilala internationally…saying, di dapat madamay and probinsiya,” Gov. Yap explained.

She also said that, “This is an isolated case, hopefully that Mayor Alice will be able to defend herself and present yung background nya na ma-prove nya na talagang Filipino siya. How can you get a Philippine passport if you are not a Filipino or even run for public office.”

𝗦𝗲𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗜𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗴𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻

The anchor asked Gov. Yap is she is open if the Senate will invite her to the hearing in which she said that, “It has nothing to do with me. What will I say? We were not informed (and) we were not in the process when they issued this licenses. We don’t issue business permits hindi namin trabaho yon.”

She further stated that there are no other 𝗣𝗢𝗚𝗢 hubs in the province but the provincial government will be more vigilant in it’s monitoring.

She called on the national government as well as all local governments to review and to go over policies and if the national government feels that these 𝗣𝗢𝗚𝗢s are no longer beneficial they should be banned.
“My stand always has been no to 𝗣𝗢𝗚𝗢. 𝗣𝗢𝗚𝗢 does not really benefit us. Wala naman ine-employ na local yan eh. There is no share sa local economy naming yan and so the national government must review their policy on this. So that hindi kaming mga local governments and tinatamaan later on because we have been blindsided,” the governor concluded.