2 POGO workers found dead, 1 hurt in Pampanga

PAMPANGA, Philippines – Two foreign workers were found dead, and another hurt in two Pampanga towns in what police officials said were kidnapping cases linked to Philippine offshore gaming operations (POGOs).

Lead investigator Patrolman Aljay Quiruz sent Rappler a report on Tuesday, November 14, which said Zhou Jie Hey, 30, a Chinese, was found wounded on a vacant lot in Barangay Manuali, Porac town at around 7 am on Wednesday, November 15.

Quiruz told Rappler that two hours after Zhou Jie was rescued, investigators found a still unidentified Chinese dead near the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway toll exit in Barangay Mancatian, also in Porac.

The other person killed was a Malaysian whose body was found in Barangay San Miguel, San Simon town on October 23, which local station CLTV36 earlier reported. The Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) confirmed to Rappler the report.

Quiruz said Zhou, who resided in Hotel 101 in Pasay City, suffered five gunshot wounds to the body. He was rushed to a hospital in San Fernando City, also in Pampanga province. 

The victim was in the intensive care unit (ICU) but is already in stable condition, according to Quiruz.

“One in the neck, two gunshot wounds in the stomach area, one in his leg, and another in his foot,” said Quiruz. “We are watching him. He is in the ICU because he underwent surgery because of the bullet wounds.”

Quiruz said they found an interpreter to talk to the victim. 

The police official said the wounded and dead Chinese, and three others which included the driver, were in transit on a 7-seater vehicle.

Zhou, he added, revealed that their captors took them from Pasay City and demanded ransom during transit but did not elaborate further.

“He said that in the 7-seater, he was with someone who was overweight, the other one was tall, one female. And another Chinese matched the description of the unidentified dead body that was found near SCTEX,” said Quiruz. 

Quiruz said they still do not know where the other abducted victims were as the investigation was still ongoing.

PAOCC said the abductions could be linked to their previous operations but did not elaborate.

Rappler has reached out to Pampanga chief of police Colonel Levi Basilio, but he has yet to respond as of writing. We will update this story as soon as he replies. 

Senators investigating a series of crimes linked to Chinese POGOs have expressed alarm over the violence surrounding the sector, which mushroomed in Metro Manila and other provinces during the administration of former president Rodrigo Duterte.

PAOCC director Jay Ison told Rappler on Wednesday that there were not enough measures to monitor and control the activities of Chinese POGO workers in the country. 

“We lack the mechanism. This is really (happening) in POGOs. Seemingly, unrestricted access were given when they allowed Chinese workers to be here,” Ison said. – Rappler.com