CALAPAN CITY, Oriental Mindoro — Puerto Galera Mayor Rocky Ilagan claimed on Tuesday that there are no Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGOs) in the popular tourist town.

On Monday, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and the Philippine Army, by virtue of a search warrant issued by a Regional Trial Court from this city, raided a resort establishment suspected of fronting for a POGO hub in Barangay Sinandingan, Puerto Galera.

But the mayor said the resort is operating legally and has all the necessary permits from the municipal government.

"Siyempre resort 'yan, may mga aliwan kagaya ng videoke, mahjong pero walang perang involve (Of course, that's a resort. There are entertainments like videoke, mahjong but there are no bettings involved)," Ilagan said in a television interview.

"Nagulat na lang ako nung sabihin nila na POGO raw ito, walang POGO talaga dito (I was surprised when they said this is a POGO hub, there are no POGOs here) This is a legitimate business operation for a resort."

NBI Mimaropa director Gelacio Bongngat, in an interview with TeleRadyo, said that 40 Chinese citizens were arrested during the raid but they were not detained.

Bongngat, however, said gambling paraphernalia were found in the establishment.

"We confiscated mahjong tables and tiles, a baccarat table and betting chips. There are also laptops but these were not confiscated because they were not included in the search warrant," Bongngat said in the interview.

The NBI said that any form of gambling is not allowed in a resort.

It also said that most of the patrons of the raided resort are Chinese.

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