A travel ban imposed by the Philippines against two figures tied to its notorious offshore gaming industry (Pogos) marks a bid by the Ferdinand Marcos Jnr administration to boost public standing, but the country’s unfolding flood-control scandal remains the biggest mover of political fortunes.
On Tuesday, the Department of Foreign Affairs confirmed that it had cancelled the passports of Harry Roque, a former spokesman for ex-president Rodrigo Duterte, and Cassandra Li Ong, an associate of former mayor Alice Guo.
The move came just days after Guo, a central figure linked to the Pogos sector, was sentenced to life imprisonment for human trafficking.
While Filipinos are likely to support further moves to target individuals linked to Pogos, they are more concerned about the huge sums purportedly siphoned from flood-control projects, analysts say.
Roque and Ong face trafficking charges in connection with Lucky South 99, a Pogos-linked compound, where authorities rescued nearly 200 workers in a raid last year and discovered evidence of torture, human trafficking and scam operations.
The raid took place amid a year-long government crackdown on the now-prohibited Pogos, which flourished during the previous Duterte administration.
