Philippines uncovers illegal ‘Pogo hospitals’ offering fugitives extreme makeovers

The commission is now investigating how these clandestine hospitals help fugitives assume false identities to evade justice.

“They had an operating table and other cosmetic modification procedures such as dental implants, hair restoration, facial rejuvenation, etc.,” he said. “If you put all of that together, you can create an entirely new person out of it all.”

Casio said the commission acted on a tip from an informant that an unlicensed hospital was operating on Macapagal Boulevard in Pasay City as a stand-alone facility.

“We asked our intelligence officers to take a look at it, and they were able to physically confirm its existence,” he said.

Based on the intelligence gathered, the PAOCC requested assistance from the Immigration Bureau, which issued a mission order to investigate a Vietnamese national supervising the clandestine facility’s operations.

“When we went there, we saw a real working hospital, kind of a general hospital… they had different types of activities going on there,” Casio said.

Authorities arrested two Vietnamese doctors, a Chinese doctor, a Chinese pharmacist and a Vietnamese nurse, none of whom are licensed to practice medicine in the Philippines as foreign professionals.

Casio said this was the first such illegal hospital raided by the PAOCC, with the commission aware of at least two other underground facilities in Metro Manila catering to the Pogo industry.

“We know for a fact that these Pogo hospitals do not have licenses or permits from the relevant government regulatory agencies,” he said, adding that one of the facilities they targeted was “a very large complex” but the operators managed to evade them by moving.

The commission believes that “a good number” of these illicit medical centers may be operating across the country, often clandestinely to avoid detection. Casio highlighted PAOCC’s concerns about how these unlicensed facilities could help fugitives radically alter their appearance to avoid arrest.

Lawmakers have pushed to ban Pogos in recent months, citing the industry’s ties to a range of criminal activities, including scams and human trafficking.

PAOCC’s Casio pointed out that the existence of these clandestine “Pogo hospitals” could be linked to earlier reports of fugitives trying to evade detection by undergoing cosmetic surgery. Last year, immigration officials arrested a suspected Chinese mafia member who did just that in a failed attempt to evade capture.

“That’s why it’s very important to close all these underground hospitals. If a particular hospital was doing cosmetic touch-up operations, it would be very dangerous to let them hang around and operate,” he said.

13:19

The Dark World of Asia’s Online Casino Industry

The Dark World of Asia’s Online Casino Industry

Casio noted that these “Pogo Hospitals” are specifically aimed at workers in the offshore gaming industry, who may or may not have the proper documentation to legally live and work in the country.

“Because these Pogo hospitals… they don’t care about proper documents anymore, they don’t ask for proper IDs and everything. So for all intents and purposes, you could be a fugitive or an illegal alien in the Philippines. No need for ID, passport or anything,” he said.

The PAOCC spokesperson recommended a gradual phase-out of Pogos, rather than a total ban. According to Casio, only 42 offshore gaming operators currently hold valid licenses, mostly concentrated in Metro Manila, while the government has already cancelled about 298 Pogo licenses.

“We will not stop until we get them back, because the implications for other transnational crimes are immense,” Casio said.