Guo convicted, but where’s Cassie Ong?
Where is Cassandra Li Ong?
Sen. Risa Hontiveros, who last year led the Senate scrutiny of Philippine offshore gaming operators (Pogos), was shocked to learn on Friday that Ong, one of the key figures questioned and detained in the course of the inquiries, is no longer in government custody despite the criminal charges later filed against her.
Ong had been linked to a company that ran a Pogo hub in Pampanga and was reportedly a business partner of dismissed Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo, who was convicted of qualified human trafficking on Thursday.
During the Senate plenary deliberations on the proposed 2026 budget of the Department of Justice (DOJ), Hontiveros asked if Ong, an incorporator of Whirlwind Corp., remained under detention after she was cited for contempt by the House of Representatives during the 19th Congress.
But Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian, the DOJ budget sponsor and who spoke on behalf of the agency, said Ong had already been released.
“Actually I was also shocked. Both of us are shocked because we are monitoring this case closely,” Gatchalian told Hontiveros in Filipino.
“[Ong] was detained in the House and then, because of the transition from the 19th Congress to the 20th Congress, she was released. At that point, there was still no case filed against her. Now, there’s already a case and that’s qualified human trafficking. Unfortunately, because she was released and the case was filed late, she’s at large now,” he added.
In June 2024, following investigations focusing on Central Luzon Pogos involving Guo, authorities raided and closed down the Lucky South 99 Pogo hub in Porac, Pampanga, over allegations of torture, human trafficking and online scamming activities.
Ong, as an incorporator of Whirlwind Inc., the company that leased land to the Porac complex, was later summoned by the House quad committee regarding the allegations.
The hearings revealed that she represented Lucky South 99, along with former presidential spokesperson Harry Roque, in a June 2023 meeting with Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. Chair Al Tengco to discuss Lucky South 99’s arrears.
Pursuit
Roque was listed as Lucky South 99’s legal officer in the Pogo hub’s application to have its operating license renewed.
Gatchalian said the Bureau of Immigration was verifying if Ong had left the country and “escaped.”
“What we’re fearing is that she might also use the same backdoor route to leave the country, similar to what Alice Guo did. But right now, there’s already a warrant of arrest and the police and other enforcement agencies are after her,” the senator added.
On May 8 this year, the Angeles City Regional Trial Court Branch 118 in Pampanga ordered the arrest of Ong, Roque and 51 others for human trafficking in connection with the illegal operations of the Porac Pogo hub.
The court said it found probable cause to put them on trial for the nonbailable charge. Roque is in the Netherlands and had applied for political asylum in that country.
Then facing a House contempt order, Ong disappeared from public view last year but was later arrested in Indonesia in Aug. 20 together with Guo’s sister, Sheila. —WITH A REPORT FROM INQUIRER RESEARCH
