MANILA, Philippines – Former Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) chief Major General Romeo Caramat Jr. told a Senate panel investigating illegal Philippine offshore gaming operators that he was kept in the dark about the March 13 government raid on the Zun Yuan POGO in Bamban, Tarlac, linked to dismissed mayor Alice Guo.
Caramat told senators on Tuesday, September 17, that he was so upset that he confronted then-Philippine National Police chief General Benjamin Acorda Jr. about why he was not informed about the raid when the operation tapped CIDG personnel.
Senator Joel Villanueva asked Caramat at the Tuesday hearing if the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) had coordinated with him on the operation as he was CIDG chief at the time. (READ: Tracing the evidence: The gov’t raid that exposed Mayor Alice Guo’s link to POGOs)
Caramat said he was the CIDG chief when the first raid in Bamban happened in February 2023, but he was not informed about the second raid that the PAOCC and some CIDG personnel conducted in Bamban in March.
“Did they ask help from you? Did you give any advice to PAOCC?” asked Villanueva.
Caramat said that he was on leave during the raid and only learned about it three to four days after the raid.
“To be honest, Mr. Chair, I was upset why I was not informed. It was a slap on my face as the director of the CIDG and they used my men in that raid and they didn’t bother to inform me so I was upset,” Caramat said.
“But I understand my men that they are just following orders from the chief PNP (Philippine National Police) so I helped them in their investigation but even though, honestly, I was upset and I confronted the chief PNP why he didn’t inform me of that trade,” Caramat added.
When asked, Caramat said the PNP chief at the time was Acorda, who retried on April 1, and was replaced by General Rommel Francisco Marbil.
Asked what kind of assistance he offered to PAOCC officials after the raid, Caramat said that he directed CIDG investigators to assist in filing the case against the Bamban POGO operation.
“This happened under your nose, so hindi ninyo po alam ito (so you didn’t know) when it happened?“ Villanueva asked him.
“I don’t know the wisdom of the chief PNP and the PAOCC, why they didn’t inform me during that operation. Maybe because I am on leave, Mr. Chair,” Caramat said.
Villanueva suggested that Caramat’s lack of knowledge about the raid might be due to possible suspicion about his involvement in the POGO operations.
“Maybe you’re on leave or maybe it is because meron pong pangamba sa inyo (there’s suspicion) that you are part of this. Is that something that you thought about, Sir?” the senator asked
Caramat said that he confronted then-PNP chief Acorda before to ask why he was kept in the dark about the raid, and that he should just be sacked if he didn’t have the PNP chief’s trust. “Ang sabi niya lang, nawala sa isip niya lang (He just said it slipped his mind),” Caramat recalled.
In July, House lawmakers grilled Caramat over the relief and reassignment of CIDG personnel who took part in the March 13 POGO raid in Bamban.
Villanueva questioned Caramat’s possible involvement with POGOs due to a photograph of him with businessman Jan Patrick “JP” Samson, Alice Guo’s co-incorporator of a company called Westcars.
The photograph was presented during the last hearing on September 9. Villanueva asked Caramat: “Anong connection ‘nyo po sa kanya? Magkaibigan po kayo (What is your connection to him? Are you friends)?”
Caramat said that when asked by House lawmakers conducting their own investigation, he had replied that he did not know the individual because he could not remember the name.
“But when the photo was showed on the screen, I remember him,” he said, adding that Samson was introduced to him as the owner of Baliwag Lechon.
Villanueva pressed further, “Wala kayong pinagsamahan na anumang (You were not in any partnership) perhaps business interest or anything, Sir?”
“No, Mr. Chair. That was the first time I saw that guy, Mr. Chair,” Caramat said.
Caramat was also asked about his connection to Sual, Pangasinan Mayor Dong Calugay, who was also at the Senate hearing. He said that he was Calugay’s superior when both of them were assigned to the Pangasinan Provincial Police in Lingayen. Calugay was a cop before he joined politics.
It was also revealed during the September 17 hearing that authorities are looking into still unverified “rumors” that an unnamed former PNP chief was on Guo’s monthly payroll. – Rappler.com
