Yesterday, the Philippine Anti-Organized Crime Committee (PAOCC) released an eye-catching "pornographic live broadcast" gossip news to corroborate the connection between the arrested "POGO big boss" Lin Xunhan and Guo Huaping.
A witness, who neither appeared on camera nor disclosed their name, and whose voice even sounded a bit strange, appeared on TV, sharing the "explosive news" they witnessed on-site about the pornographic live broadcast and the bidding to foreigners.
Yesterday, the Philippine Anti-Organized Crime Committee (PAOCC) released an eye-catching "pornographic live broadcast" gossip news to corroborate the connection between the arrested "POGO big boss" Lin Xunhan and Guo Huaping. A witness, who neither appeared on camera nor disclosed their name, and whose voice even sounded a bit strange, appeared on TV, sharing the "explosive news" they witnessed on-site about the pornographic live broadcast and the bidding to foreigners.
Netizens' doubts mainly focus on several aspects: "Lü Dong" and "Lin Xunhan" look too different, it is unnecessary to use them as backups; it is illogical for the arrested person, being a big boss, to go out and drive to buy things when the situation is tense; many official statements make it feel like they didn't know about "Lin Xunhan" at all initially, instead calling him "Lü Dong" for a long time; and, "Lin Xunhan" does not look like a good person, but his demeanor is far from that of a "super big boss."
Unfortunately, PAOCC's PR move not only failed to quell doubts but also raised more suspicions. According to PAOCC, the arrest of "Lü Dong" was after eight months of hard investigation, "Lü Dong" has been proven guilty of countless crimes and can be called the head of the Philippine online gambling industry, establishing multiple online gambling companies in the Ilocos region, Central Luzon, Calabarzon, and Metro Manila.
Despite such explosive information, PAOCC chose to respond with a trivial "pornographic live broadcast" gossip news to explain the relationship between "Lin Xunhan" and Guo Huaping, and passively responded to deeper external doubts, which easily makes people suspect "whether there are no other cards or materials to play," because logically, PAOCC could have directly quashed online doubts by presenting some solid evidence from the past eight months of investigation.
Thus, the outside world inevitably generates new speculations: Could this arrest be a blunder by the officials? Is it possible that they originally intended to arrest "POGO big boss" Lü Dong from Hunan, but due to various mistakes, ended up arresting Fujianese Lin Xunhan, and then just went with it?
Another intriguing point is that, over the past few days, the official stance on the capture of Lin Xunhan has changed significantly, and through the timeline, it can be seen that there might be more hidden circumstances behind this change.
1. On October 10th, PAOCC spokesperson Casio excitedly stated that they had arrested Lucky South 99's "behind-the-scenes big boss Lü Dong," holding a Chinese Hunan passport. Lü Dong is one of the first online gambling company bosses in the Philippines, an absolute big boss, a pioneer, suspected of multiple crimes. This arrest was a major achievement of the Immigration Bureau, the Ministry of Justice, the Philippine Armed Forces Intelligence Service (ISAFP), and the Anti-Trafficking Interagency Committee.
2. On October 11th, PAOCC submitted the latest report to the Presidential Office, stating: Lü Dong, real name Lin Xunhan, born in Fujian, China, holding a Chinese passport. He has used aliases such as "Bogo," "Boga," "Xiao Long," "Apao," "Pahao," and "Hao Hao," while using the passport and identity of "Lü Dong" to evade law and regulation.
3. On October 13th, PAOCC stated that the statements of the witness who exposed the pornographic live broadcast and his understanding of this operation are important because he can prove the relationship between Guo Huaping and Lin Xunhan.
4. On October 14th, officials stated that they would consider protecting the witness, and the alias "Mrs. Hua" mentioned by the witness had also appeared in previous investigations and is now mentioned again, "For us, that's enough."
It is not difficult to see that the official tone is gradually lowering, from initially being super excited, almost eager to show off and receive awards, to mid-way making information corrections, and later relying on gossip news witnesses to prove the effectiveness of the arrest, as well as the subtle "barely piecing all the materials together" feeling, all convey a peculiar signal.
Regarding various doubts, the officials have not yet responded. The latest development is that Lin Xunhan will attend the Senate's final hearing on illegal POGOs as the arrested "POGO big boss." At that time, he may be questioned by the Senate along with Guo Huaping as suspects, and the truth may be revealed then.
Of course, looking at the various details of Lin Xunhan's arrest, from two passports to hiring private bodyguards, it can be asserted that he is probably not a good person, definitely not something a restaurant owner would do.
However, one thing at a time, if there really was some kind of "prince and the pauper" blunder in this arrest process, the officials should clarify quickly and respond to the public's calls for doubt. If PAOCC tries to release various smokescreens to cover up mistakes and find evidence to substantiate this matter, it will set a very bad precedent.
This kind of precedent is definitely not a good thing for Chinese in the Philippines and those working in the gambling industry.
