Press Release - Opening statement of Senator Risa Hontiveros during the POGO hearing

Dear colleagues, resource persons, friends. Magandang umaga po sa ating lahat. Just to refresh everyone's memory, sinimulan natin ang hearing na ito noong mayroon po tayong tinulungang isang dosenang Pilipino na makabalik mula sa Myanmar, kung saan sila natraffic sa isang malaking scam hub na malapit sa border ng Thailand.

I am happy to share that one of our rescuees, si Alias Rita, has chosen to transform her trauma to make a positive impact. Sa tulong ng Active Citizenship Foundation, binabahagi niya ang kanyang karanasan sa mga youth and students para hindi sila mabighani ng mga scam hubs.

Ngunit, mula good news ay papunta sa bad news. When we started the hearings, we wanted to cast a light on the phenomenon of Filipinos being trafficked to other countries, usually in the Southeast Asia Region, to work as "scammers". Then we discovered that these scam hubs which we once believed were predominantly in other countries, perhaps in more fragile democracies, are actually here in the Philippines.

Sinilip natin ang Clark scam hub, sinilip natin ang Pasay scam hub, and perhaps there were some of us who still thought that these were isolated cases - nowhere near the contagion that has hit our Southeast Asian neighbors.

Pero friends, dito po ako nabigla. I was very disturbed to hear that there is persuasive information from the intelligence community stating na itong Bamban complex na ito ay ginagamit for surveillance activities, at ang mga ibang nabalitang high profile cases of hacking of our own government websites ay traceable sa complex na ito.

ARE POGOS NOW BEING USED TO SPY ON US? GINIGISA NA BA TAYO SA SARILI NATING MANTIKA?

Labas pa ito sa impormasyon na there were actual Chinese fugitives found in the Baofu compound.

Then comes the most troubling news: tayo na po ang isa sa fastest growing hotspot for scams sa buong mundo. According to our colleagues in PAOCC, halos lahat po ng malawakang imbestigasyon on cyberfraud and cyberscams sa mundo, may nexus sa Pilipinas. Ibig sabihin there is some kind of traceable connection to the Philippines. Halo-halong kalamay na ang scams, national security threats, human trafficking. If these scam hubs are so lucrative, hindi