Cassandra Ong's grad pic scrutinized at House probe; Dan Fernandez becomes target of jokes
MANILA (UPDATED) — Even a photo showing Cassandra Ong in graduation garb was scrutinized at the House quad-committee's Thursday probe into illegal Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators and their links to extrajudicial killings and the Duterte administration's drug war.
Ong, whose citizenship and birth certificate have been the subject of questions in past hearings, was once again quizzed on her educational background, this time with her supposed graduation picture shown to her by lawmakers.
"Naki-picture lang po ako diyan," Ong said, recalling the shoot was actually for graduating students of the Alternative Learning System (ALS) and that she was not one of them.
According to Ong, she only attended ALS classes "twice or thrice," and did not finish the program. "Pumunta lang po ako, tapos sakto, may [graduation shoot]," she claimed, noting that she went to a Chinese school in Binondo, Manila.
Ong is said to be a representative of Lucky South 99, a formerly licensed POGO hub in Porac, Pampanga that was raided by authorities over alleged illegal activities, including torture. She had admitted being the authorized representative of Lucky South 99, but denied she was involved in its illegal POGO operations.
Ong, dismissed Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo, and 34 others are facing money laundering charges before the Department of Justice in relation to their alleged links to illegal POGOs.
Ong was placed under the custody of the House of Representatives after her deportation from Indonesia, where she was arrested along with Guo's sister Shiela.
Less than two weeks after Shiela's arrest, Alice Guo was also captured in Indonesia earlier this month.
READ: Sual town wharf may have been exit point in Alice Guo's escape: PAOCC
Later in the hearing, the joint committee's co-chairperson Rep. Dan Fernandez, whose phone contained the picture shown to Ong, became the target of jokes by his colleagues, as they wondered how he came to be in possession of it.
—reports from Jose Miguel Dumaual, Jauhn Villaruel, and Victoria Tulad, ABS-CBN News
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Pulong sa UN
May posibilidad na magkaroon na hiwalay na pulong ang nasa 20 bansa para talakayin ang situwasyon sa Indo-Pacific Region, kabilang ang West Philippine Sea. Ito'y ayon kay Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo, na siyang inatasan ni Pangulong Ferdinand Marcos Jr. na kumatawan sa Pilipinas sa United Nations General Assembly sa New York. Nagpa-Patrol, Zen Hernandez. TV Patrol, Huwebes, 19 Seytembre 2024
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Duque posts bail for graft case; questions Ombudsman decision
Then Health Secretary Francisco Duque III attends a House hearing on August 28, 2019. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News/File
MANILA — Like former Department of Budget and Management Undersecretary Lloyd Christopher Lao, the country’s former health chief has also posted bail for charges of violating the anti-graft law.
In a message to ABS-CBN News, former Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said he posted bail last September 4 “immediately after finding out about the filing of the case before the Sandiganbayan.”
“I will be pursuing remedies available to me to question the resolution of the Ombudsman, not only in the Sanganbayan, but also with the Supreme Court,” Duque said.
Duque and Lao were investigated for alleged irregularities following the DOH’s transfer of P41 billion to the Procurement Services of the DBM to purchase much-needed COVID-19 supplies during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Duque also clarified then that getting the services of the PS-DBM in procuring medical supplies like face shields and face masks were necessary because the country was faced with a health emergency.
The former health chief, meanwhile, declined to comment on Lao’s arrest.
Lao was arrested by authorities on Wednesday morning while on his way to court to post bail.
He was briefly detained at the CIDG Regional Forensic Unit 11 in Davao City but was released after posting bail worth P90,000.