PAOCC spokesperson Dr. Winston Casio stated that the arrested foreigners are currently detained at the raided fraud den. Casio said, "Today, they will undergo two legal procedures. The first is a criminal online trial, which involves the interrogation of those charged with criminal offenses. We have already identified the list of individuals who will be criminally charged."
He added that these foreigners were originally scheduled to undergo an immigration hearing on Monday afternoon (September 2). Casio mentioned, "If the weather improves, we will transport them using military aircraft... If the weather is clear, we are likely to depart from Manila tomorrow." However, due to bad weather, this schedule is likely to be delayed.
Casio previously stated that about 150 foreigners were arrested in a gated compound in Lapu-Lapu City, but by Monday (September 2), the number of arrests had increased to 169. Among them, 163 were formally arrested, and 6 foreigners were considered rescued.
The arrested included 91 Chinese mainland citizens, 69 Indonesians, 6 Burmese, 2 Taiwanese, and 1 Malaysian. Casio noted, "We have rescued six Indonesians, who were part of the 13 people the Indonesian embassy requested to be rescued. The rest were arrested for alleged fraud activities."
Additionally, four Filipinos were arrested during the operation, allegedly as "residual" personnel from previous raids at POGO centers in Bamban, Tarlac, and Pampanga's Porac. Casio mentioned that most of these 169 foreigners also came from POGO centers in Bamban and Porac.
Casio also pointed out that authorities are still investigating about 300 illegal POGO centers and called on local government units to intensify their efforts against POGOs. He emphasized, "I hope they remain vigilant, pay more attention, and not turn a blind eye to illegal activities in their communities. Saying they didn't know what was happening is not a sufficient reason or defense... We cannot use 'ignorance' as an excuse, saying we didn't know about these activities. If national agencies have discovered them, why wouldn't the locals know?"
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