The news continues to be troubling for the Philippine Offshore Gambling Operators (POGOs) and for those agencies that are called upon to oversee the operations. Philippines Senator Richard Gordon demanded answers on March 3, asking how the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) has been overseeing POGOs in a Senate plenary session.

Gordon expressed his concern that the AMLC has been virtually silent while numerous investigations are going on. In the last two weeks alone, it has been discovered that the Bureau of Immigration (BI) officials had been working with POGOs operators to assist Chinese migrants to illegally enter the country by providing false documentation. These actions were made to help these migrants to work in these operations despite not having the legal status to be able to do so.

Now comes a recent report that a Chinese POGO employee was killed, shot during an apparent money exchange deal. Two suspects have been arrested and charged with the murder. Both were discovered to have fake IDs for the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), but their attempt to exchange large sums of cash had Gordon wondering if China was sneaking money into the Philippines to fund espionage.

It also has Gordon wondering what is going on in agencies like the AMLC, which are expected to monitor for money laundering issues. During the March 3 session, Gordon acknowledged that Senator Joel Villanueva’s suspicions about the AMLC covering up suspicious transactions involving Chinese-owned POGOs and POGO service providers is a valid concern.