The Office of the Ombudsman suspends Poran Mayor Jaime Capil, the town’s vice mayor, and 8 councilors over the raided Lucky South 99 POGO
MANILA, Philippines – The Office of the Ombudsman has ordered the preventive suspension of Porac, Pampanga officials led by Mayor Jaime Capil over the raided Philippine offshore gaming operator (POGO) in their town.
In an order dated October 8, Ombudsman Samuel Martires ordered the preventive suspension of Capil and Vice Mayor Francis Laurence Tamayo in relation to the gross neglect of duty case filed by the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG).
It also suspended the following councilors:
- Rohner Buan
- Rafael Canlapan
- Adrian Carreon
- Regin Clarete
- Essel Joy David
- Hilario Dimalanta
- Michelle Santos
- John Nuevy Venzon
The Ombudsman also suspended Emerald Vital, licensing assistant/business permit and licensing office acting chief.
Rappler has reached out to Capil. We will update this story once he responds.
Preventive suspension is a standard practice in investigations involving public officials to ensure the fairness of the probe, and to avoid the possibility of officials influencing the investigation through their position. The suspension is only temporary and will only last within the case’s duration, but should not exceed six months.
“Further, given respondents’ power and authority, there is strong probability that they may influence witnesses or tamper with any evidence material to the case, and in order to likewise prevent any possible acts of malfeasance and/or misfeasance, hence, this Preventive Suspension,” the Ombudsman said.
The suspension takes effect immediately. At this point of its probe, the Ombudsman said there are sufficient grounds to hold that the evidence of guilt is strong against the officials so they had to be suspended temporarily.
What are the allegations?
The DILG’s case stems from the authorities’ operation against the Lucky South 99 POGO located in Porac, in June. Authorities raided the POGO due to allegations of human trafficking. POGO player Katherine Cassandra Ong, who is at the center of a legislative probe, was allegedly connected to Lucky South.
In its case, the DILG said Capil failed to check the regularity of the documents in relation to the POGO’s business permit applications. There were irregularities in the types of permits the LGU issued to Lucky South.
In 2020, Lucky South was classified, according to its permit, as a business processing outsource. However, for 2021, 2022, and 2023, the business was reclassified as a POGO. Under the rules, the reclassification should have required a new set of documents such as a letter of no objection, amended articles of incorporation, and registration documents from the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Despite the absence of documents, Vital still recommended the issuance of a business permit. Capil, on his part, approved the issuance of the permit for three consecutive years even without the necessary documents. The DILG added that Capil committed neglect of duty when he signed the business permit for 2023 despite the expiration of the POGO’s Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation license.
“In connection with this, he also failed to appropriately act upon the revocation of Lucky South 99’s business permit when its PAGCOR license ultimately expired,” the interior department said.
“Mayor Capil also failed to act appropriately on the reports of criminal activities happening inside Lucky South 99’s premises. Notably, several validation requests and letters from the PNP concerning illegal activities such as serious illegal detention, cyber-related criminal activities, prostitution, were left unacted upon by Mayor,” it added.
As to the suspended vice mayor and councilors, the DILG said they failed to exercise their power to protect the welfare of Porac and its citizens, and also to prevent criminal activities committed within the POGO premises. The department noted that the Porac council failed to check the activities of the POGO up to the time it was raided by the authorities.
Capil is the second mayor suspended over illegal POGOs in the country.
The first was former Bamban, Tarlac mayor Alice Guo due to her alleged ties with the Hongsheng/ Zun Yuan Technology, the POGO raided in Bamban. Guo already faces a pile of criminal cases, including trafficking and graft, and was earlier ordered dismissed by the Ombudsman. – Rappler.com
