PRRD not worried about Chinese POGOs near military camps

FILE: President Rodrigo Roa Duterte gives his message as he stands as one of the principal sponsors in the wedding of First Lieutenant Jan Tabaculde and First Lieutenant Kerlyn Asuncion at St. Ignatius de Loyola Cathedral in Camp General Emilio Aguinaldo in Quezon City on June 1, 2019. ALFRED FRIAS/PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO

MANILA — President Rodrigo Duterte is not worried about the presence of Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs) near military camps, Malacañang said on Monday.

Defense Secretary Delfin Lorezana earlier backed the proposal to place the Chinese POGOs in a hub away from military camps and other vital installations to allay fears of espionage.

“Given the logic of what they were saying, I don’t think he is that worried,” Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said in a cable television interview.

“He said yesterday na magaling tayo sa ating (we are good at our own) intelligence gathering, marami na tayong instrumento (we have a lot of instruments), we can do it also,” he added.

Panelo noted that Duterte believes Chinese workers could still spy on the military even if they were placed away for their bases.

“I can understand the concern of Secretary Lorenzana, he is a military man. And the President and I were talking about it yesterday and he was saying that—you know, you don’t even have to be near any military camp if you want to gather intelligence,” Panelo said.

“He said that – concerning the high-tech now – even if they are far away from China, if they want to spy us, they can. And in fact, all countries as he correctly said are spying on each other, natural lang iyon eh (that’s just natural),” he added.

Panelo, however, said whether the Chinese POGOs are far from military bases or not, it will be the security officials and the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (Pagcor) to decide.

“I think Pagcor and the security officials can meet and agree, para masagot natin iyong (to answer) security concerns na binibigay ni (given by) Secretary Lorenzana,” Panelo said.

He said National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr. believes that knowing where the Chinese POGOs are is better to be able to keep watch over them.

“I talked with him and he said, ‘actually, mabuti nga alam natin kung nasaan sila (it’s better that we know where they are).’ What is important is we know where they are,” Panelo said.

“Kasi kapag malapit lang sila, mababantayan mo sila (Because if they’re close, we can monitor them); but at the same time puwede rin naman na mababantayan tayo (they can also monitor us). So, it works both ways,” he added.

Panelo said since they are operating legally, the government continues to allow their operations.

“Well, right now, it’s not illegal eh. Kaya iyon ang problema (that’s why thats the problem), China is saying ihinto natin, pero hindi naman illegal sa atin iyan eh (we should stop it but it’s not illegal). So, I guess, we have to do what is being done now, we are allowing it,” Panelo said.

Panelo, meanwhile, stressed the importance of POGOs as a “legitimate revenue-making” project.

“That’s very important, we need money, revenue, that’s legitimate revenue making project. We are not worried about the security that they are posing to us. Eh, kaya naman daw natin sabi ni Presidente na malaman kung ano ang gusto nilang gawin sa atin (We have the ability to find out what they want to do to us),” he added.