Why does Cassandra Ong face a trafficking complaint?

MANILA, Philippines – After facing arrest and the scrutiny of lawmakers, Katherine Cassandra Ong, who is being linked to a Porac, Pampanga Philippine offshore gaming operator (POGO), was slapped with a non-bailable complaint.

The Philippine National Police Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP CIDG) and the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) filed a trafficking complaint with the Department of Justice on Tuesday, September 10. The PNP CIDG and PAOCC lodged the suit for alleged violation of Republic Act No. 9208 or the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003 as amended by RA No. 10364 and RA No. 11862.

The complaint is based on Ong’s alleged ties to Lucky South 99 in Porac, which was raided by authorities due to allegations of human trafficking. In the filing of the complaint against her, authorities cited the following as reasons for her supposed connection to the POGO:

• She is Lucky South’s authorized representative.
• She is the signatory in the POGO’s application for an Internet Gaming License with the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (Pagcor) in 2023.
• She is one of the 2024 officers of Whirlwind Corporation, with a beneficial ownership of 58% share holdings equivalent to 7,250 shares and paid the amount of P181,250. This is the real estate corporation that leased its compound to Lucky South.

Ong was invited by the House of Representatives months ago due to her ties with Lucky South 99, but failed to attend that’s why she was ordered arrested. Only after she was arrested in Indonesia, deported back to the Philippines, and put under House custody was Ong able to attend the hearing again.

Ong is known to be the girlfriend of Wesley, brother of dismissed Bamban, Tarlac mayor Alice Guo, who’s implicated in Bamban POGO. Wesley remains in hiding, but according to his lawyer, wants to surrender.

Who are the other respondents?

In total, the PNP CIDG and PAOCC named over 50 respondents in the trafficking complaint. But among these names, the biggest and most noticeable ones are the following:

Zhang Jie

• A Singaporean who is the president of Lucky South 99. She subscribed to 60,000 shares in the corporation and paid a total of P6 million and holds 40% of the shares based on the company’s 2022 general information sheet. Zhang is among the authorized representatives of Lucky South 99 named in the company’s Pagcor license application. The Singaporean is also said to be the medical officer of Lucky South 99 and Whirlwind Corporation.
• Zhang tried to leave the country on June 23, but was intercepted by the Bureau of Immigration because of visa issues. Opposition Senator Risa Hontiveros, who leads the probe into POGOs, said the hotel rooms where Sheila Guo stayed in Indonesia were allegedly booked under Zhang’s name. Shiela is Alice’s sister.
• The Singaporean is also under the immigration’s lookout bulletin, like Alice Guo, Ong, and others.

Duanren Wu

• A Chinese who is one of the directors/officers of Whirlwind Corporation. He holds beneficial ownership of 20% share holdings, equivalent to 2,500 shares, and had paid the amount of P62,500 to the said corporation. Ong said he is her godfather. Wu, along with four Filipinos, incorporated Whirlwind in 2019 with an initial capital of P312.5 million. Wu has been invited by the Senate in its probe into POGOs.

Ronelyn Baterna

• Baterna is Lucky South 99’s corporate secretary and worked as one of the administrative officers in the operation of the said company and Whirlwind. She also served as Ong’s personal assistant. She attended the probes into POGOs, where she insisted that she was merely a receptionist who was asked to be the corporate secretary in 2022.
• She was cited in contempt and was ordered detained due to her inconsistent responses to lawmakers’ queries during the House probe in early August. She has since been released from detention after cooperating with lawmakers in the latter hearings. According to Lucky South 99’s documents, Baterna is an officer with 30% shares.

Dennis Cunanan

• Cunanan is being linked to Lucky South 99 on account of his being the company’s communications and government relations head. He was also one of the company’s authorized representatives when it applied for a Pagcor license in 2020. He is a former government official convicted of graft in 2023 for his role in the pork barrel scam.
• Several documents from 2020 showed that it was Cunanan who transacted for Lucky South 99’s operations in Laoag City, Ilocos Norte. He was also once a representative of Hongsheng Gaming Technology Inc., the POGO in Bamban, Tarlac.

Why this matters

The trafficking complaint is one of the gravest complaints filed against Ong in the months that the government has been trying to pin her over alleged ties to POGOs. On August 30, the Philippine government filed a money laundering complaint against her, Guo, and 32 others.

Prior to that, Ong was charged with disobedience to authority and obstruction of justice, which are both bailable offenses. Trafficking, however, is not, which means she would be detained and put under police custody or put in jail should prosecutors find sufficient proof to charge her, and the court subsequently issues a warrant.

Ong is also the alleged link between POGOs and former presidential spokesperson Harry Roque. It was Ong who hired Roque for Whirlwind, and later lawmakers said that the former official effectively lawyered for the Porac POGO.

Hontiveros earlier said that Ong was under close monitoring because she is essential in determining who should be implicated in relation to the Lucky South 99 POGO. 

At present, Ong has not only been invited by the House, but also by the Senate. On Wednesday, she filed a petition to the Supreme Court to seek its help so she can invoke her right to remain silent in the hearings. – Rappler.com