Public has the right to know what Senate has to reveal

MEDIA REPORTED THAT after seven months of continuous Senate hearings, the Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations, and Gender Equality is set to conclude its investigation into illegal Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs), also known as Internet Gaming Licensees. 24 Oras said on October 8 that the next hearing would be the last.

At this stage, however, the hearings have not yet revealed the identities of the persons involved in this grand scheme that has operated mostly as an underground activity. Media reports continue to record the information coming from the Senate hearings, but these have not identified the persons involved; including the “crucial personality” named by dismissed Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo, in a Senate executive session on September 24.

Information without interpretation

In transmitting whatever revelations are shared with the press, journalists have not been able to get any official to speak on the record about the information so far discovered, nor about the value or significance of these revelations.

Reports on October 8 picked up the online interview with Wang Fugui, a fellow inmate of self-confessed Chinese spy She Zhijiang, who alleged that Guo was a Chinese spy. The interview was shown by the office of Senator Risa Hontiveros during a Senate probe.

Wang further claimed that Guo and She had the same contact with China’s Ministry of State Security, Ma Dong Li, and that her campaign for mayorship in Bamban was allegedly arranged by China’s state security. Guo denied the allegations as she had done in previous hearings.

Referring to the regular session, ABS-CBN News and 24 Oras said it was suspended for a two-hour executive session, but no information was made public.

On October 9, GMA News Online, News5, and Pilipino Star Ngayon reported the statement of Senator JV Ejercito during the Kapihan sa Senado, where he said that Guo floated “new names” during the executive session – which he said he could not divulge.

Reports did not provide any other information with regard the “crucial personality,” which Guo talked about three weeks ago. The term was no longer used in any of the reports.

Identifying the POGO boss

In the same week, on October 11, Chinese national Lin Xunhan, also known as Lyu Dong and believed to be the “kingpin” of POGOs, was arrested by the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission in Biñan, Laguna. Media reported the arrest but did not say whether Lin was among the personalities named by Guo.

So far, the Senate seems intent to keep the information gained during the executive session secret. No one has given any assessment of the significance of the arrests, or whether these were relevant to anything learned during the executive session. The media are out in the cold and the public as well.

Rappler’s video report on September 24 noted that if deemed necessary, a two-thirds vote from the 24 senators could authorize the release of anything discussed in a Senate executive session. So far, no one has moved in favor of the people’s right to know.

The media should recall that the POGOs and Guo’s involvement had been described as a national security concern, given the questions raised about Guo’s citizenship. And yet, the Senate has so far kept the information secret with no discussion of what is being kept from public knowledge; no official has felt compelled to share the information with the people. 

The matter has fallen out of the news agenda. There is little follow-up on what has been revealed. The investment in probes has been wasted, ignoring the people’s right to know.

The press has been cast out outside of the cycle of information. It reflects the sad state of the press that seems to have lost its capacity to tear down official walls of invisibility and silence.