Ben Madilynn
This was denied by Chan, stressing it was not his signature.
He added that his signature is easy to forge.
The mayor also said that the City Government will investigate why Zhao has the ID.
“It’s false…Di na tinuod…It is easy to get an ID kon inyong tan-awn sa inyong gipakita karon that’s only plastic. Sayon ra gyud kaayo paghimo og ID,” said Chan.
(It’s false… It’s not true… It’s easy to get an ID; if you look at what you’ve shown now, it’s just plastic. Making an ID is really very easy.)
Zhao, along with 15 other foreigners, including his son, was among those charged with human trafficking for his alleged involvement in the Pogo hub in Barangay Agus, Lapu-Lapu City, that was raided on August 31.
Authorities transported the 169 foreigners, including Zhao, to Metro Manila, where they will face the charges and deportation proceedings, on September 4.
The foreigners were also charged for being undocumented and working in the country without a visa.
Meanwhile, Human Resource Management Development Office (HRMDO) head Mario Dennis Calvo, in a separate interview, said the ID was an old design and the City has no Chinese consultant.
“Base sa among records, wala gyud mi consultant na Chinese national ever since the mayor started his term. Dili mi mu-confirm or wala mi records na naa mi Chinese national na consultant,” said Calvo.
Calvo also emphasized that the ID number EO-013, which was indicated in Zhao’s supposed ID, is nonexistent in their records.
He added that the City doesn’t issue IDs to consultants but only to local government unit employees.
The current ID of Lapu-Lapu City, which was said to have been issued during Chan’s second year in office, has a color red and blue outline and is not laminated.
In a document from the HRMDO, there are currently 15 consultants listed under the Office of the City Mayor.
Donors, visits
Chan also admitted to having met Zhao during his first term as mayor in 2019.
In the previous reports of SunStar Cebu, Zhao has formerly donated computers and free internet connection in a school at Barangay Pangan-an in Olango Island, which the city mayor did not deny.
“We don’t deny that…There’s probably nothing wrong with accepting donations as long as we see that they are doing business in Lapu-Lapu in 2019,” said Chan in a mix of Cebuano and English.
On the allegations that he had visited the hotel in Barangay Agus, Chan said that he goes there when invited by the president on occasion.
“Wa na nato gilimod nga wa ta imbitara, gi-imbitar ta, og nakaadto tas ilang lugar,” said Chan.
(We didn’t deny that we weren’t invited, we were invited, and we went to their place.)
Chan also clarified that the owner of the hotel resort that was recently raided on Aug. 31 did not apply for legal Pogo in the City.
The City Government also issued a cease and desist order to the Tourist Garden Hotel compound, including five other establishments, namely Cyber Internet House Corp., Nanyang Zhongjing Tobacco Corp., Hwa Van Realties Inc., Royal 1 Suwu KTV Corp., and Asean Gufeng International Trade Corp.
Chan said the city has also an ongoing investigation on the hotel-resort business permits considering there are 13 buildings inside the compound.
He added that he would have the City Legal Office check if the establishments declared all their properties.
Meanwhile, on Thursday, Sept. 5, the National Bureau of Investigation 7 conducted a search warrant operation at the two buildings situated at the Tourist Garden Hotel compound.
The authorities have recovered computers, laptops, cellphones, scripts, and documents, among others, which will be essential to the additional charges they will charge against the 16 foreign nationals and one Filipino.
The Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (Paocc) has also ordered the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) to seek the freezing of the assets from the raided Pogo hub in the hotel, which included the whole premises with 13 buildings and the 12 vehicles parked within the hotel. /DPC
