POGO operator gets 20 years, P1 million fine for trafficking

MANILA, Philippines — A Las Piñas court has convicted a Chinese man, reported to be a Philippine offshore gaming operator (POGO), for human trafficking.

In a decision dated Oct. 27, Judge Phoeve Meer of Regional Trial Court Branch 275 found Andy Chen guilty of violating Republic Act 9208 as amended by RA 10364 or the Expanded Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act.

Meer sentenced Chen to 20 years imprisonment and slapped him with a fine of P1 million.

The court also ordered Chen to pay his victim, a Chinese woman, P400,000 in moral and exemplary damages.

The victim, a POGO worker, was rescued by operatives of the Women and Children Protection Center (WCPC) during a raid on XinChuang Network Technology on Alabang-Zapote Road in Barangay Almanza Uno on Dec. 1, 2021.

WCPC director Brig. Gen. Portia Manalad assured the public that perpetrators of human trafficking will face the full force of the police.

In June, 2,724 people, many of them foreigners, were rescued from XinChuang’s compound during a police raid.

Five Chinese were charged with human trafficking in connection with the raid.