Parañaque eyes suit vs owners of POGO housing

MANILA, Philippines — The city government of Parañaque is considering filing charges against the owners of buildings housing Chinese employees of Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs).

City administrator Fernando Soriano told The STAR that the Office of the Building Official conducted a visitorial investigation last month and issued notices of violation of the building code.

Letters obtained by The STAR, written by residents of Multinational Village, said basic utility problems increased since POGO employee housing proliferated in the subdivision two years ago.

One letter, dated Nov. 4 and addressed to Mayor Edwin Olivarez, Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission chief Dante Jimenez and Interior and Local Government Secretary Eduardo Año, said Multinational Village has been experiencing “diminishing” water supply, “frequent” power transformer blowouts, increasing problems with garbage collection and “grossly dilapidated and eroded roads and traffic.”

The letter also described the lack of peace and order and the increasing security risks in the subdivision.

The homeowners also asked for assistance from President Duterte, saying the construction of POGO housing facilities continue and new ones are starting. 

Mel Marquez, spokesman of the concerned homeowners’ group, said the construction was still going on despite the notices and court cases.

“Some work conspicously, while some inconspicuously,” Marquez told The STAR, adding that some workers hide when city inspectors arrive and continue working when they leave.

He said the number of buildings, some of which “look like tenements,” are hard to track as some of them are still at ground zero.