Instead of commending police officers for a job well done, why were personnel of the Criminal Investigation Detection Group (CIDG) relieved and reassigned instead when they raided hubs of the shady Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGO) in Bamban, Tarlac?
That’s what lawmakers want to know. The next time that the congressional hearings resume, they will be calling the person who reassigned the raiders, a move approved by Representative Dan Fernandez, chairperson of the House committee on public order and safety and games and amusements
It was former CIDG chief Major General Romeo Caramat Jr. who ordered the reassignments, according to documents that Rappler has seen.
“There were some instances that [reassignments of personnel who assisted in the raid] happened, I was not yet the director at the time, but today the collaboration with other agencies is strong,” Major General Leo Francisco, the new CIDG chief who replaced Caramat weeks after the relief orders, told the House committee on Wednesday, July 17.
“Our term in the PNP for transfer is ‘sinibak’ [fired], instead of given commendation or award, minalas pa (met with bad fortune),” said 1-Rider Partylist Representative Bonifacio Bosita.
The government raid on the Zun Yuan (formerly named Hongsheng) POGO in Bamban, Tarlac, was done in the wee hours of March 13. This followed close coordination between the main POGO busters, the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC), and their law enforcement partners, the CIDG.
The operation had some flaws because before operatives arrived, foreigners had already started leaving the compound of Baofu, the real estate firm that leased its property to the POGO, and which was co-owned by the now infamous Mayor Alice Guo. This has since led to brewing speculations that there were leaks.
“We have vetted our personnel who are joining the operations, coordinating with PAOCC to provide us the necessary education…I am positive that my CIDG personnel are not the suspects on those leaks,” said Francisco during the House hearing.
Still, despite the flaws, the operation was successful because they seized evidence that blew the lid open on the problem of illegal scam hubs masquerading as POGOs.
But afterwards for three consecutive days, on April 17, 18, and 19, Major General Caramat relieved his men and reassigned them somewhere else. The chief of CIDG-National Capital Region (NCR), Colonel George Buyacao, was relieved first, according to documents seen by Rappler. At least nine more CIDG-NCR personnel were relieved immediately after. These were all on Caramat’s orders.
PAOCC chief Undersecretary Gilbert Cruz said that before the 2024 Bamban raid on Zun Yuan, the February 2023 raid on the same POGO earlier named HongSheng also led to the reassignment of the raiding CIDG team. “In the first raid in 2023, the region 3 command of CIDG was wiped out,” said Cruz.
“Nagtrabaho sila, may magandang resulta, sinibak pa. Dapat maimbestigahan ito properly. Kung hindi natin po-protektahan ang police personnel na may dedikasyon, kapalit mamalasin pa, eh parang sinasabi natin huwag silang magtrabaho,” said Bosita.
(They did their jobs, it had a good result, yet they were fired. This should be investigated properly. If we do not protect dedicated police personnel, and in exchange they suffer a bad fate, it’s as if we’re telling them not to do their jobs.)
“That’s our quandary now, the investigators of our raid in Bamban are now dispersed in several units, some not even in CIDG, which makes it difficult for them to appear in our court proceedings,” PAOCC spokesperson Winston Casio told the House committee.
Caramat was appointed CIDG chief in January 2023 by former PNP chief General Rodolfo Azurin Jr. In May 2024, weeks after Caramat’s relief orders covering the POGO raiders, PNP chief General Romeo Francisco Marbil reassigned Caramat to the area police command of Northern Luzon. Francisco took over CIDG.
What is going on in the PNP?
– Rappler.com