POGO boss Huang Zhiyang now in Hong Kong – Gatchalian

Metro Manila, Philippines – Chinese fugitive Huang Zhiyang, a key figure in Philippine offshore gaming operations, has been traveling freely using his five passports, Senator Win Gatchalian said Thursday, Sept. 12.

“Nabalitaan namin na nasa Hong Kong siya ngayon,” Gatchalian told reporters.

“From Taiwan, kakalipad lang niya ng Hong Kong,” he added.

[Translation: We heard that he is currently in Hong Kong. He just flew in from Taiwan to Hong Kong.]

Gatchalian said his information is “confirmed,” but refused to disclose his source.

He also declined to confirm whether it was Huang’s name that former Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo wrote on paper when asked to identify who masterminded her short-lived escape.

Senator Jinggoy Estrada had earlier mentioned that the mysterious name is a Chinese national and the “boss of all the bosses of POGO.” He stated during the last hearing on Monday that the person was in Taiwan, and had passports issued by Saint Kitts and Nevis, China, Cyprus, Dominican Republic, and Cambodia.

Senator Risa Hontiveros, chairperson of the Senate committee on women, children, family relations, and gender equality, which is leading the probe, told NewsWatch Plus that the person is an incorporator of Baofu Land – the real estate firm that leased its land to the Bamban POGO.

Huang is an incorporator and an alleged business partner of Guo, who has stated in previous hearings that she was unaware of Huang’s fugitive status.

Hontiveros said the Senate wanted to invite Huang to previous hearings but was unable to locate his address.

Gatchalian said the only way to bring him back to the country is to issue a warrant for his arrest, which would allow the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) to issue a red notice alerting international law enforcement authorities to locate him.

The same applies to Zhang Jie and Duanren Wu, two other foreign nationals believed to have assisted Guo in her escape from the Philippines to Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia, Gatchalian said.

“Nag-book ng hotel, nag-facilitate ng travels, may mga contact on the ground,” Gatchalian said of Huang, Zhang, and Wu.

[Translation: They booked hotels, facilitated travels, and had contacts on the ground.]

Huang is facing a qualified human trafficking complaint alongside Guo related to the Bamban POGO, while Zhang and Wu are facing a similar complaint concerning another raided hub in Porac, Pampanga.