BY ALEX ALAGON
- Baste says label misused to discredit father
A RECENT National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) raid on an illegal offshore gambling operation in Buhangin has created discord between Acting Mayor Sebastian “Baste” Duterte and law enforcers over the use of the term “POGO.”
While the NBI seized computers and arrested eight Chinese nationals for what it called an “illegal Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator,” Duterte insisted that the term is being misused, declaring, “POGO is not here anymore.”
The acting mayor, in a recent “Basta Dabawenyo” episode, criticized the continued use of “POGO,” labeling it a “politically abused” term used to discredit former President Rodrigo Duterte.
“They keep bringing back the POGO label because that’s their attack on the previous administration,” Duterte said.
He clarified that any existing gambling operations are illegal offshore platforms, not licensed POGOs, and urged the public to “use the proper term.”
He added, “Bahala Kayo…mag aksaya Kayo ng panahon kung gusto nyo.“
However, the NBI stands by its use of the term.
Last week, the NBI Southeastern Mindanao Regional Office (NBI-SEMRO) filed a case against the eight Chinese nationals arrested during the Aug. 12 raid of a house in Montclair Highlands.
According to NBI XI director Atty. Arcelito Albao, the operation was prompted by a homeowner’s complaint.
“I received information that there were a lot of Chinese nationals in the wee hours of the evening,” Albao told reporters, adding that surveillance confirmed they were conducting “illegal online operations or POGO.”
With the homeowners association’s cooperation, agents accessed the house and seized 10 computers and several mobile phones.
Albao stated the arrested individuals admitted to their involvement in a POGO operation and confirmed that the NBI will subpoena others involved, including the homeowner.
Albao noted that this is the second illegal gambling operation caught in Davao since December, but the NBI is actively monitoring others. “Here in Davao, there aren’t that many. Since December [Panabo operation], this is the second, but we are monitoring another new one,” Albao said.
He also explained the challenge of processing evidence, as the confiscated computers and phones use Chinese characters, requiring interpretation.
SO, A hub of the notorious Philippine Overseas Gaming Operations (POGO) has been existing and fully operational in an upscale residential subdivision in Buhangin, Davao City? And it was raided by elements of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Southeastern Mindanao.
According to local news reports, the illegal POGO hub operation at the Montclaire Subdivision, Buhangin district, has been operating for quite some time already. And it took one brave resident in that residential enclave to report the hub.
Thus, after thoroughly validating the report, the NBI raided and several Chinese nationals were caught running the gambling – and possibly ‘scamming’ operation. Paraphernalia like cellular phones, computer units, and other gambling tools were confiscated by the raiding authorities.
The busting of the illegal POGO hub is the second to happen within the Davao Region. The first one was the hub of the POGO inside a supposedly abandoned warehouse in the middle of a banana plantation in nearby Panabo City.
And by the way, how come the discovery of the illegal gambling den only happened four days ago? Why did nobody before the POGO raid in that posh residential subdivision ever attempt to report the illegal operation to advise the police authorities, or their equivalent?
Is this indicative of the existence of influential protectors sitting on swivel chairs? Believe us. The alien gambling and scam operators could not have come up with one risky scheme if they were not certain they could operate in the area unhampered.
Indeed, it is hard to believe that the operators dared to do the unlikely.
With the discovery and subsequent busting of the illegal POGO hub right in the heart of Davao City, do we expect some more to surface in the very near future?
“Let us to see.”
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We read a post on Facebook, a line-up of priority bills the young second district Congressman Omar Duterte is planning to introduce in the 20th Congress. All ten are youth, pro-workers, pro-senior citizens, including one who seeks to give a regular salary for barangay officials. In short, all the areas that appear wanting in government attention are being looked into by the young congressman in his planned legislative agenda.
Even the already high pension of the members of the country’s armed services is included in the young Duterte scion’s legislative intentions.
The question that many people, not just Davaoeños, might be asking is whether or not he can introduce even one of his planned measures in the legislative body. Or, if he can, will he be able to fight it out even at the committee level?
Even a cursory examination of his proposed legislative measures can tell the more discerning observers that the young Duterte is not the only one with proposed bills along the areas he is exploring to address..
Our take is that Congressman Omar’s chances of presenting his bills to the appropriate committee will be dependent on how fast he can move to push his proposed measures from his office to the committee.
And once it is taken up for deliberation by the committee, it is imperative that the congressman from Davao City’s second district must be ready with his inputs and justify the same quite convincingly.
But with even the ten proposed measures, it is our take that three years will not be sufficient time for all these – not even five or three – will reach the plenary.
But if we may recommend one for the congressman to prioritize in introducing, it must be the proposal for barangay officials to have regular salaries and other benefits.
For certain, Congressman Omar will get massive support. We can only hope that his proposed bills will not be derailed by the present political dynamics between his family and that of the national administration.
- NBI XI arrests 8 foreign nationals, monitors another illegal offshore gaming
THE NATIONAL Bureau of Investigation Southeastern Mindanao Regional Office (NBI-SEMRO) filed a case on Wednesday afternoon against eight Chinese nationals arrested in a raid of an illegal Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (POGO) in a residential area of Buhangin, Davao City.
The operation, which took place on Aug. 12, 2025, at a residence on Gardenia Street in Montclair Highlands, targeted an illicit POGO setup.
NBI XI director Atty Arcelito Albao stated that a homeowner’s complaint initiated the surveillance and verification process, which confirmed the presence of illegal POGO activities on the property.
“Last Monday, I received information that there were a lot of Chinese nationals in the wee hours of the evening. I immediately instructed my agents to conduct verification and surveillance, and we confirmed that they were doing illegal online operations or POGO,” Albao told reporters yesterday in a press briefing held at The Royal Mandaya Hotel.
With the voluntary cooperation of the homeowners’ association, agents were granted access to the house, where they discovered computers used for illegal activities.
Albao stated that the arrested individuals admitted to being involved in a POGO operation during a media interview.
He also said they will subpoena those people involved, including the owner of the house.
“We conducted a series of online surveillance and online detection. We are now seeing that there are others here in Davao. We hope we can catch all of them because they are slowly dividing and going to different places. In Manila, NBI agents also catch smaller groups from time to time. Here in Davao, we verify almost every week, so if we see a group of Chinese, we do verification. This is one we caught, and hopefully, this month we are targeting one more area in Davao City,” he further said.
“Here in Davao, there aren’t that many. Since December [Panabo operation], this is the second, but we are monitoring another new one and we are conducting surveillance and online verification,” Albao said.
“After the operation on the confiscated computers and cellphones, we immediately applied for a cyber warrant so that we can examine what’s inside. But the dilemma here is that all of these laptops, computers, and cellphones use Chinese characters, so they need to be interpreted. The POGO operation transactions are not here but outside,” he said.
During the raid, the NBI apprehended eight foreign nationals—two females and six males. The suspects were brought to the NBI XI custody and will be charged under applicable Philippine laws.
Authorities seized 10 personal computers and multiple mobile phones from the site, which were used to facilitate the gambling scheme.
The operation is part of a broader nationwide crackdown on illegal POGO activities led by NBI Director Santiago, who has ordered all regional offices to dismantle offshore gaming schemes that undermine national security.
The NBI-SEMRO is urging the public to report any suspicious activities related to illegal gambling, money laundering, and human trafficking.
According to Albao, the NBI is also monitoring a separate, newly established POGO operation in Davao City.
Challenges in cracking down on POGO
“First of all, they are now just small groups of 10 or 20, and it’s difficult to monitor them. Other residents are also afraid to report, just like this one. If they hadn’t fought on Sunday night, it wouldn’t have been reported to us, even though the residents already knew they were Chinese. We got the lease contract, and it was from April, so we need help from our countrymen, for example, from people in subdivisions or commercial establishments. We need help to catch all of them and have them deported to China,” he further said.
Moreover, Albao said that after the filing of cases, they will immediately turn over the arrested individuals to the Bureau of Immigration.
Looks like the world is getting smaller for former Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque these days.
Roque, who is now gallivanting abroad and hoping to secure asylum, preferably in the Netherlands, is starting to get rebuffs from the camp of his former boss in Malacanang, then President Rodrigo R. Duterte, who is presently detained in the detention center of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague. The former President is facing a case of crimes against humanity at the ICC.
Initially, Roque was denied asylum by the government of the Netherlands, but he is still there, hoping that his case will be reconsidered by the Dutch government.
The former spokesman of FPRRD was earlier rejected as part of the defense team of the former President. This despite the fact that he is one of only very few Filipino lawyers accredited by the ICC.
Of late, Roque’s statements made on the case of his former boss have been considered by the Defense team of Duterte, led by lawyer Nicholas Kaufman, as “interference” in their work and might possibly affect adversely the defense team’s strategy.
Of course, the former Presidential spokesman was quick to deny that he is interfering in the Duterte defense team’s activities.
In the early days of the former President’s incarceration at The Hague, VP Sara, who was the one working for the organization of his father’s defense team, appeared wanting in interest in having Roque as a member.
Of course, the VP’s action is understandable. After all, how could she be assured of Roque’s full attention in the defense of his father when the former was also having a problem of his own, that is, defending himself from some cases he is facing in the Philippines – the very reason he left the country.
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Acting Mayor Baste Duterte is lambasting the Marcos, Jr. administration for its apparent toleration of online gambling even after vilifying the Philippine Offshore Gaming Operations (POGOs) during his third State of the Nation Address (SONA) last year.
According to Baste, the Marcos Jr’s administration only succeeded in politicizing the POGO halt despite the millions of pesos it brought to the government treasury. Besides, he added, the target clients of POGOs were not Filipinos but big-time gamblers from other countries like China.
Now, the younger Duterte said, the administration is coddling the operation of online gambling with Filipinos as its clients. And this has been going on without a single centavo in taxes paid to the government.
But we are also wondering whether Mayor Baste has noticed that in his own turf, online gambling “couched” by the so-called legally allowed Small Town Lottery (STL) betting outlets is now growing in number like mushrooms sprouting underneath banana plants. How about this phenomenon of booking outlets for the small town lottery? We are just wondering if the acting mayor has knowledge of the massive rise in the number of these outlets for gambling, which in some areas are barely less than 300 to 400 meters away from each other.
For now, we have heard of famous names mentioned as operators of these betting venues for STL (kuno), but they are actually just “fronts” of the more juicy illegal Last 2 operation.
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This one is worth the recognition as a major news story of the world.
Remember that Ukraine has been at war with Russia for about two years now. And despite several attempts, Russia still failed to steamroll into Ukraine despite its massive size. In fact, Ukraine even brings the war to Russia’s domain without necessarily sending foot on the ground.
But only this week, it appears that some other “forces” succeeded in “invading” Ukraine. And because of the ongoing war, the Ukrainian authorities seem convinced that the country will have a hard time thwarting the new “invaders.”
And the Ukrainian government is so afraid that, should the “invasion” not be thwarted early, chances are the country may end up having a serious food shortage.
The “invaders?” Locusts, swarms of these large insects, are now attacking Ukrainian farm crops that are feeding its people, including the already exhausted soldiers, while they are locked in a struggle against Russia.
The worst fear of the Ukrainian people is that if these “invaders” are not halted, chances are the country may be on its way to a serious hunger. And the country cannot afford to spare money since it is spent mostly on the country’s effort to sustain its war against Russia.
Quo Vadis Ukraine?
ACTING Mayor Sebastian “Baste” Duterte has voiced strong disapproval regarding the government’s perceived lack of concrete action against gambling, particularly online gambling, across the Philippines.
During a recent “Basta Dabawenyo” episode, Mayor Baste criticized the previous administration for making Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO) an issue, arguing that POGOs had no direct negative impact on the populace and, in fact, contributed to employment opportunities.
The Mayor explained that POGOs are an outsourced industry, primarily involving foreign nationals rather than Filipinos directly.
“They replaced it with gambling within the country that targets Filipinos themselves. And you know gambling, it’s a vice, it’s an issue, and you are making it very accessible to your own people,” Mayor Duterte stated, expressing his concern over the shift.
This sentiment comes as many have expressed disappointment that President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. did not address online gambling during his fourth State of the Nation Address (SONA) on July 28, 2025.
NEARLY all Filipinos (92%) are aware of online gambling, but only 3 in 10 (29%) reported either using or expressing interest in using such platforms, according to the April 2025 national survey conducted by independent public opinion firm WR Numero. Notably, interest is higher among younger, urban, and higher-income Filipinos.
The April 2025 edition of the Philippine Public Opinion Monitor asked respondents about their awareness, usage, and interest in online gambling.
Awareness of online gambling is widespread across the country, with only 1 in 10 Filipinos saying they are unaware of the activity. This high level of awareness is consistent across regional clusters, age groups, income classes, and areas of residence. (See Table 1)
The nationwide survey found that younger, urban, and wealthier Filipinos are more likely to engage in online gambling.
Despite widespread awareness, 71% of Filipinos say they do not use online gambling platforms and are not interested in trying them. Meanwhile, 24% say they have gambled online: 10% are current users, while 14% are past users. Some 5% have not tried online gambling but expressed interest. (See Table 2)
Among those aged 30 and below, 16% are current users, 19% are past users, and 3% are interested but have not yet tried it. Current usage drops to 7% among those aged 31 to 59, and 3% among those 60 and older. Interest in those who have not yet used is slightly higher among the older groups (around 6%) than the youngest group (3%). (See Table 2)
Among Class ABC Filipinos, 16% are current users and 30% are past users, while 54% say they are not interested. Usage declines among Class D (14% current users) and Class E (8% current users). Interest without prior use is highest among Class E at 6%, followed by Class D at 4%, and less than 1% among Class ABC. (See Table 2)
In urban areas, 11% are current users, 20% are past users, and 6% are interested but have not tried. In rural areas, 9% are current users, 10% are past users, and 4% are interested. A larger share of rural residents (77%) say they are not interested, compared to 63% of urban residents. (See Table 2)
Regionally, Metro Manila reports the highest combined rate of experience with online gambling, with 12% currently using and 29% as past users. Only 58% of Metro Manila respondents say they are not interested. In comparison, 69% in Mindanao, 71% in the rest of Luzon, and 82% in the Visayas say they are not interested and have never used online gambling platforms. (See Table 2)
Mindanao records the highest current usage at 13%, followed by Metro Manila (12%), the rest of Luzon (8%), and the Visayas (7%). Interest without prior use is most notable in the rest of Luzon at 8%, compared to 5% in Mindanao, 3% in the Visayas, and less than 1% in Metro Manila. (See Table 2)
The nationwide survey, conducted from March 31 to April 7, 2025, was done through face-to-face interviews with a nationally representative sample of 1,894 registered voters residing in the Philippines.
At the national level, it has a margin of error of ±2% at a 95% confidence level. At the subnational level, the margin of error is ±6% for the National Capital Region, ±5% for North and Central Luzon, ±5% for South Luzon, ±5% for the Visayas, and ±5% for Mindanao, all at the same 95% confidence level.
