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The 24-year-old linked to illegal POGOs was born to Chinese parents Richard Ong Chao Hong and Ying Xia Li
Claim: Cardiologist-turned-online health advocate Dr. Willie Ong is the father of Cassandra Ong, who is being investigated for her alleged ties to Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGOs).
Rating: FALSE
Why we fact-checked this: The YouTube video bearing the claim has 237,412 views and 1,900 likes as of writing. It was posted on September 22 by a channel with over 67,000 subscribers.
The title of the video says: “Cassandra Ong, inaming anak ni Doc Willie Ong!” (Cassandra Ong admits she’s Doc Willie Ong’s daughter!)
Images of the two, along with clips from a Senate hearing, were used in the video as the narrator discusses how Cassandra Ong revealed dismissed Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo’s ties to illegal activities in the Philippines.
The facts: Willie Ong is not Cassandra Ong’s father. Her father was Richard Ong Chao Hong, who reportedly sought naturalization in 1978, according to Sta. Rosa Lone District Representative Dan Fernandez. Her mother, on the other hand, was Ying Xia Li.
The misleading video even used clips from a Senate hearing last September 17, where Ong explicitly stated her father’s name. However, the video’s title still said otherwise.
The video was posted amid Willie Ong’s announcement last September 14 that he was suffering from a rare abdominal cancer, which was mere days before Cassandra Ong’s Senate hearing.
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Irregularities: During the Senate hearing, Senator Jinggoy Estrada questioned Ong on her birth certificate as there were dubious details, such as a non-existent home address and the unknown identity of the midwife mentioned in the document.
The senator also said that the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) had no record of marriage between Ong’s parents. The PSA said it has already launched a fact-finding investigation into Ong’s case.
Linked with POGOs: Ong is an officer of the Whirlwind real estate firm that leased its land to the Lucky South 99 POGO in Porac, Pampanga. The firm is being investigated following a government raid that revealed various illegal activities, including scamming, trafficking, and torture. (READ: Who is Cassandra Ong, the 24-year-old linked to the Bamban, Porac POGOs?)
Ong was caught in Indonesia together with Alice Guo’s alleged half-sister Shiela on August 21 amid authorities’ probes into Guo and illegal POGO activities. Ong is Guo’s alleged business partner and is the girlfriend of Guo’s brother Wesley.
Ong faces a trafficking and money laundering complaint. On September 19, lawmakers ordered her 30-day detention at the Correctional Institute for Women after she was cited in contempt for a second time.
Previous fact-checks: Rappler has published several fact-checks related to Willie Ong:
– Barbra Althea Gavilan/Rappler.com
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Barbra Althea Gavilan is a Rappler intern. She is a fourth year Journalism student at the University of Santo Tomas.
