He arrived in the Philippines in 2018 to work for the POGO firm Tele Empire, but according to Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) Chairman & Administrator Wilma T. Eisma, the interpreter that interviewed the patient said he has already resigned.

However, the interpreter could not say when the Chinese POGO worker resigned, if indeed, he really had resigned.

According to Eisma, the interpreter said the patient left the Philippines in Nov. 2019, but, again could not tell how and when he returned and where he stayed between then and June 6, 2020 when he checked in at the hotel where he has staying at the time of his test.

“Only OFW’s and returning Filipinos are being allowed in,” Eisma said in response to Subic Bay News’ query. “There is a travel ban and an exemption has to be asked from the DFA before anyone is allowed. While some might want to think he slipped in, how?” she said.

But the interpreter said the Chinese Covid-19 positive patient “had not been to the POGO service company since March 18, 2020,” implying that, if true, he still could have had ties with the POGO company at least until the said period.

“He submitted himself for a reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test on Aug. 5 as a travel requirement,” Eisma said in her official statement, “and the results that came out from the Philippine Red Cross Laboratory on Aug. 6 indicated that he is POSITIVE of the Covid-19 virus.”

There are thousands of Chinese POGO workers from Communist China working in several POGO firms in the Subic Bay Freeport, catering to gamblers online.

Residents have expressed concern on their health and sanitation practices, even prior to the Pandemic. “There is more reason now to be more wary of what’s going on inside the POGO companies, their Chinese workers need to be safe from the virus so as not to become carriers and spreaders of the deadly disease,” a Subic Freeport resident who requested not to be named being an SBMA employee, said.

POGO firms in Subic occupy hotels, former schools, and a former hospital and SBMA authorities have little or are unable to closely monitor their activities, once even denying entry of an SBMA inspection team in their premises.

Recently, authorities arrested six (6) Chinese while trying to spirit out of the Subic Bay Freeport’s Tipo Gate a kilo of Shabu worth some P6.8M, prompting Cong. Robert Ace Barbers to seek a Congressional Probe on the links of POGO and illegal activities, including drugs and prostitution.

Barbers also think the one (1) kilo haul is unrealistic considering the involvement of the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA) and Intelligence Service-Armed Forces of the Philippines (ISAFP) in the operations that collared the 6, some, if not all, could be workers of POGO firms in Subic.

Eisma said SBMA welcomes the House Probe “to thresh out and expose any party illegally operating in Subic.” (VVV)

SUBIC Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) Chairman & Administrator Wilma T. Eisma said she welcomes a congressional inquiry into the alleged possible links of POGO (Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators) Chinese employees and illegal drugs in the Subic Bay Freeport Zone (SBFZ).

“I welcome the probe to thresh out and expose any party illegally operating in Subic,” Eisma told Subic Bay News, “SBMA will cooperate in the investigation.”

The SBMA head made the statement after Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert Ace Barbers, chairman of the House Committee on Dangerous Drugs, initiated a congressional probe on the alleged links to illegal drugs of some POGO workers inside the Freeport following the arrest on Thursday (July 30) night of six (6) Chinese nationals trying to exit the Freeport with a kilo of shabu estimated to be worth P6.8M.

Eisma said “the successful apprehension of the 6 Chinese suspects, as well as recent buy-busts in the Freeport, resulted from the cooperation and support of SBMA law enforcers with other govt. agencies like the police and PDEA”

A composite team of government agencies led by the Philippines Drug Enforcement Agency-National Capital Region (PDEA-NCR), National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA), Intelligence Service-Armed Forces of the Philippines (ISAFP) and Philippine National Police-Highway Patrol Group PNP-HPG collared the suspects at the Freeport’s Tipo Gate aboard a Nissan X-Trail vehicle.

Two other vehicles, a Toyota Alphard and Hi-Ace Van allegedly slipped through the team’s dragnet, however, that prompted Barbers, among other reasons, to seek the house inquiry.

““What is worrisome and suspicious is that only one (1) kilo of shabu was seized or ‘declared’ to have been seized from the suspects,” Barbers said in an earlier statement, “Hindi siguro sasama pa ang ISAFP at NICA sa ops ng PDEA-NCR kung paisa-isang kilo lang ang lakad na ito.”

“Kung totoong minonitor at pinostehan in a period of time ng ating mga anti-drug at intel agents and mga suspects, sigurado na malalaman nila kung sino-sino ang mga ito at ang kanilang mga kasabwat, pati na mga sasakyan na gamit nila,” he added.

POGO firms in the Subic Bay Freeport employ thousands of Chinese from Communist China to cater to gamblers in mainland China, online.

Housed in hotels, some already operating exclusively for POGO firms, as well as former schools and a former hospital, they enjoy limited interference even from SBMA authorities, whose inspection attempt at the height of the lockdown due to the Covid-19 (Wuhan Virus) pandemic to check if it really ceased operations, was denied. (VVV)

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“Worrisome and suspicious is that only one (1) kilo of shabu was seized or ‘declared’ to have been seized from the suspects” – Barbers

            SURIGAO del Norte Rep. Robert Ace Barbers is seeking a congressional probe on the alleged links to illegal drugs of some Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO) workers inside the Subic Bay Freeport Zone (SBFZ) where firms enjoy preferential tax treatment. 

            Barbers, chairman of the House Committee on Dangerous Drugs, made the call after six Chinese nationals were caught in a dragnet by a composite government law enforcement team for possession of one kilo of shabu worth P6.8 million while about to exit at the Tipo Gate of the Freeport Thursday night (July 30).  

            The arrested suspects, who are believed workers seen frequently with their vehicles at the POGO area at Cubi in the Freeport were identified as Jiang Peng, Liu Qiao Zhi, Huang Du, Chen Pingxing, Xia Fayong and Fan Sheng Jian. 

            “While I cannot yet determine if they were really Subic POGO workers, it has been established and recorded that the suspects on board their vehicles had been frequently monitored to be frequenting and entering at least two units at the POGO compound at Crown Peak in Subic,” he said. 

            Apprehended while aboard a Nissan X-Trail ((XTP-513) in the guise of having committed traffic violations, the suspects yielded a Cal. 45 pistol with seven live bullets, mobile phones, IDs, wallets and passports. 

            Barbers said the lawmen involved in the operation include agents from the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA-NCR), Intelligence Service-Armed Forces of the Philippines (ISAFP) and National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA) and the local police, indicating the immensity of the drug-sting operation. 

            “The involvement of PDEA-NCR, the ISAFP and NICA in this drug sting operation indicate they were after big-time drug dealers with huge drugs shipment. Hindi siguro sasama pa ang ISAFP at NICA sa ops ng PDEA-NCR kung paisa-isang kilo lang ang lakad na ito,” he said. 

            “And what is worrisome and suspicious is that only one (1) kilo of shabu was seized or ‘declared’ to have been seized from the suspects. This, despite na malakas na ugong sa mga kwentuhan sa Subic na more than 300 kilos ng shabu ang nakuha sa mga suspects,” he added. 

            According to Barbers, there were also reports that the composite government team failed to capture and apprehend other cohorts of the arrested suspects who were on board a Toyota Alphard and Hi-Ace vans.  

            “Kung totoong minonitor at pinostehan in a period of time ng ating mga anti-drug at intel agents and mga suspects, sigurado na malalaman nila kung sino-sino ang mga ito at ang kanilang mga kasabwat, pati na mga sasakyan na gamit nila. Ang problema, nakalusot daw sa dragnet nila ang mga suspects na nasa Toyota Alphard at Hi-Ace vans. Tsk, tsk, tsk. Nakalusot ba o pinalusot?” he said. 

            Some POGOs have registered their firms inside the Subic Freeport Zone to enjoy preferential tax treatment. But they later establish the bulk of their operations in Metro Manila, particularly in Makati, Paranaque, Quezon City and Paranaque, to skirt payment of right amount of taxes. 

            Said gaming firms, manned mostly by Chinese workers, has created social tension with Filipinos and bred crime, including fraud, illegal drugs trafficking, kidnap-for-ransom, human trafficking and prostitution catering to the workers, among others. (VVV)

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by Vic V. Vizcocho, Jr.

SUBIC BAY FREEPORT — A Locator-sponsored medical examination using rapid test kits (RTKs) for Covid-19 on close to a thousand frontline workers of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) yielded negative results, keeping the Subic Freeport’s record of zero positive case since the pandemic began.

“All the 910 SBMA workers, mostly frontliners, who subjected themselves to the rapid test came out okay, and this is a huge relief to everybody in the agency as well as the Subic Freeport community,” SBMA Chairman & Administrator Wilma T. Eisma said.

The rapid testing for COVID19 was sponsored by Premium Technical Training and Facilities Inc. (PTTFI), a Freeport locator which houses Ekxinum, Inc. that operates in Subic with Chinese workers for the Smarc Group International Limited, a Philippine Offshore Gaming Operations (POGO) operator accredited by the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (PAGCOR). (pls. read: POGO Refuses Entry, Inspection by SBMA Team)

“They have been working with all these health hazards for almost three months now and still face a few more weeks of risks, so we are glad that they can continue their work with confidence that they have remained clean,” she added.

Tested were mostly health workers, police and security personnel, firemen, sanitation technicians, maintenance workers, as well as some employees doing administrative work and those with health risks and comorbidities who received priority in testing, Eisma said.

“We are glad that there is this opportunity to test our frontliners now because our polymerase chain reaction (PCR) mass testing project with the Philippine Red Cross (PRC) is not yet operational,” Eisma explained.

“It’s actually a CSR (corporate social responsibility) project of Premium Technical that they sponsored the rapid tests for SBMA frontliners in exchange for their free use of the badminton court as venue for testing of their own employees,” Ronnie Yambao, SBMA deputy administrator for health and safety said. 

Rapid testing can cost as high as P1,650, but still inexpensive compared to a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests that cost from P3,500 to as much as P9,000 when administered in private hospitals.

Yambao said that according to the Department of Health’s algorithm, “if the result was IgM reactive but IgG non-reactive, we isolate for 14 days then repeat the test. If within the 14 days the person tested develops symptoms, then we will go for admission.”

“According to our health authorities here, test validation is essential. That is why if any SBMA employee gets a positive result from the rapid test, we would automatically go for a PCR test,” he added.

Yambao also said the SBMA has adopted the DOH T3 strategy, which is to test, trace and treat persons suspected of having been infected with Covid-19.

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A Philippines Offshore Gaming Operator (POGO) inside the Subic Bay Freeport Zone (SBFZ) is in hot water after it refused entry to the Inspection Team sent by the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) over the weekend to conduct inspections to ascertain compliance to the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ), and if it ceased operations as ordered in the face of the Wuhan Virus (Covid 19) Pandemic.

“Ekxinum, Inc. told us to make an appointment first before coming for inspection,” team member SBMA Fire & Rescue Chief Ranny Magno said, “which is not right because inspections are supposed to be random.”

This prompted SBMA Chairman & Administrator Wilma T. Eisma to order the SBMA Business and Investment Group (BIG) to work with the Legal Department “in issuing a ‘show cause’ order for Ekxinum to explain why it barred the SBMA inspection team from entering its premises.”

According to Eisma, “other legal action may ensue from this procedure, if warranted. The random inspection of Ekxinum facilities and all other POGOs will take place in the same way the SBMA has made random inspection of all other establishments.”

Except for Ekxinum, Inc., other POGO centers and businesses in the Freeport allows the SBMA Team to enter and inspect their premises.

POGO Operations During Quarantine

Earlier, there had been suspicions of possible continued operations of the POGOs despite the government’s order to stop, which not only raises the risk of spreading the Wuhan Virus, but would also be cheating the government of taxes.

Like Ekxinum, hotels in the Freeport that are exclusively housing Chinese POGO employees like Buma Hotel and Inter-Park Hotel could have easily continued operations right from their rooms without getting the attention of authorities.

Passenger buses from the said hotels marked “Food Delivery Do Not Delay” and “Food and Basic Needs Service” have also raised suspicions that they are transporting workers to POGO Centers within and outside the Freeport, thus, Eisma ordered stricter measures in monitoring the trips, and “if caught,” she said, “will be dealt with accordingly.”

Internet Signal

Meanwhile, a former top telco executive told Subic Bay News that “telcos are now enabled by “Software Defined Networks (SDN), meaning they have intelligent monitoring systems to better manage their fixed and wireless networks.”

“SDN can measure real time usage of bandwidth,” said the executive who requested not to be named, “per port and/or per customer, among other metrics, that is, peak time/lean time, usage patterns, fiber cuts and outages, etc.”

Eisma said she has ordered the SBMA Legal Department to coordinate with the PLDT in looking into the “usage of bandwidth capacities” of the POGOs in Subic.

BIR Tax Payment Certification

Ekxinum, Inc. is the biggest POGO in the Subic Freeport that employs thousands of Chinese at the sprawling some 3.6-hectare former school compound turned Online Gambling Center at Upper Cubi which another company, Premium Technical Training and Facilities, Inc. that is also owned mainly by Ekxinum owners, leased from SBMA in 2017 and subleased to its sister POGO company.

Eisma has informed POGO companies in the Freeport that should the national government give the go signal for POGOs to resume operations, they will have to submit certifications from the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) that they have paid all taxes due as of March 2020, as announced by PAGGOR Chair Andrea Domingo, otherwise they will not be allowed.

Earlier, the BIR has said “almost all POGOs” have unpaid taxes.

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