MANILA, Philippines – When Merlie Joy Castro went to the Senate in Pasay City on Tuesday, October 8, she knew she was not going to come home at the end of the day.
It had been two weeks since a court in Pasig ordered her arrest, and of 15 others for the non-bailable charges of qualified human trafficking over the illegal operations of the POGOs (Philippine offshore gaming operators) in Bamban, Tarlac. These are the POGOs that rented out of the compound of dismissed mayor Alice Guo, Chinese name Guo Hua Ping, which were found with evidence of scamming operations, and of trafficking and torturing workers.
Castro explored her options in those two weeks with the help of a non-profit legal aid group, somehow still believing that a miracle can happen and she can be dropped from the charges. Her story, after all, seems believable — she claims she was a vendor in nearby Concepcion town in Tarlac turned business process outsourcing call center worker who had no idea about POGOs. Her identity, she had told the Senate three months ago, had been stolen effectively making her a ghost owner if her claim was true.
But the day had come for her to surrender. The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) was informed that after the Senate hearing on Tuesday, Castro would go with them.
“Takot para sa seguridad ng mga anak ko, iniwan ko sila na dalawa lang sila sa bahay (I am scared for the safety of my children, I left the two of them at home),” Castro told Rappler minutes before NBI whisked her away.
‘I’m sorry for what’s happening to you’
When Castro first appeared in the Senate on June 26, she said she wished that her name could soon be cleared, as she hoped she could come back to work. She had been put on remote work after her name came up as one of the incorporators of the POGO that was raided.
On the spot in that hearing, a representative from the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) said that the tax identification number (TIN) used for Castro in incorporating the Hongsheng POGO is non-existent.
But the Department of Justice (DOJ) proceeded to charge her, claiming it has evidence that Castro and the three other Filipino incorporators of the Hongsheng POGO received payments so that their names can be be used by the company. This evidence, however, is not yet included in the DOJ indictment, nor in the Pasig court resolution ordering their arrest.
“Hindi ko kilala ang Hongsheng, hindi pa ako nakakarating sa lugar ng Bamban, wala silang ebidensyang makukuha sa akin dahil wala ako ni singkong natanggap para masabing incorporator nito,” Castro told Rappler.
(I do not know Hongsheng, I have not been to Bamban, they cannot find any evidence against me because I did not receive a single cent to be considered an incorporator.)
Before he left the session hall, Senator Joel Villanueva went to Castro. “I want to shake your hand, Merlie, and I am sorry sa nangyari sa’yo (for what’s happening to you),” said the senator. “But nandito kami ha (we’re just here),” Villanueva added.
‘Paalam, Mommy’
Castro’s children, 10 and 16 years old, got to say goodbye, although she said they probably do not realize the full extent of their mother’s ordeal.
“Paalam Mommy, ilaban mo ‘to para sa amin, kasi kailangan ka namin (Goodbye Mommy, fight this for us, because we need you),” Castro recalled her children’s last words before she left.
She told the Senate panel during the hearing: “Ito po ay nakapagpasira ng buhay ko, batid ko, hindi lang buhay ko, pati ang buhay po ng anak ko (This ruined my life and I think not just mine, but the lives of my children as well)”
Castro also gave them a lead: “Si Ms. Alice Guo, ang nasabing nagpasok ng pangalan ko, na ang ginamit niya ay si Ms. Gamo (Ms Alice Guo, the one who is said to have used my name, she used Ms. Gamo).”
Gamo is Nancy Gamo, who appears in company records as a contact person for Zun Yuan, the POGO that operated out of Guo’s Baofu compound starting May 2023. Hongsheng was raided in February 2023, and the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) believes the operation just renamed, although the two companies had different incorporators when they registered.
Gamo, because she is not an incorporator, was not included in the charges.
That she named Gamo is what scares her, said Castro.
“Hindi ko alam ano mangyayari pagkatapos ng pagsasalita ko, pagbitaw ng isang pangalan at kung sino ang gumamit ng pangalan ko,” Castro told Rappler.
(I do not know what will happen after I spoke, after I named someone and who used my name.)
The three other Filipino incorporators of Hongsheng are Rita Yturralde, Thelma Laranan, and Rowena Evangelista. They also claim that their identities were stolen through the data they submitted to lending companies. Castro says they know the three as vendors in Concepcion, too.
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The four had a brief conversation at the Senate on Tuesday.
“Sabi nila sila’y hirap na hirap na raw sa kung ano nangyayari, ang sabi ko lang magsabi ng totoo, sabihin kung anong nararapat,” said Castro.
(They said they’re suffering so much from what’s happening, I told them to just tell the truth, to tell what’s right.)
Laranan, Yturralde and Evangelista earlier surrendered together to the NBI, as well as the three Filipino incorporators of Zun Yuan. Two of the Zun Yuan incorporators have offered to be state witnesses.
Also ordered arrested but at large are the powerful Chinese incorporators: Huang Zhiyang, Singapore’s money laundering convicts Lin Baoying and Zhang Ruijin; and Yu Zheng Can who holds a joint bank account with Hongjiang Yang, the brother of former presidential economic adviser Michael Yang. – Rappler.com