Boying Soriano has lived in Ayala Alabang Village (AAV) since 1981. “My children and my grandchildren grew up here.”

He said he does not really concern himself with what’s happening inside the exclusive enclave — with nearly 5,000 households and is its own barangay. But a growing crime problem prompted him to speak up.

“We just cannot sit on the fence because this is a serious matter that is affecting our village,” Soriano said. “If we don’t take our village back, then it’s all our fault. We had to take responsibility for what is happening.”

AAV is home to big names in the entertainment industry, business, and politics. However, residents have recently been complaining that their village’s peace and safety have been compromised after Chinese nationals with suspected POGO ties began to settle there.

About 25 kilometers away in neighboring Parañaque City, residents in Multinational Village also complain of the same problem: Some houses in their subdivision have likewise become havens for illegal gambling, and a portion of their village has been transformed into a little Chinatown.

While some have viewed POGOs or Philippine offshore gaming operators as favorable for the country’s economy, contributing P104.5 billion at their peak in 2019, this came at great cost — one shouldered by private citizens.

All about the money

Two weeks before President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s third State of the Nation Address, where he announced a surprise ban on POGOs, AAV residents organized a motorcade against neighbors who they suspect have connections to online gambling and other illegal activities.

They stick out like a sore thumb, residents and the barangay said. Houses being monitored have banners with Chinese characters and red lanterns, with golf carts — said to be used for transporting security and house help or suspected sex workers in the wee hours of the day — parked just right outside on the street.

And in the posh village, there are now stories of kidnapping and robbery incidents.

Several Chinese nationals were arrested in 2023 after authorities raided a house along Guava Street and found illegal firearms and gambling paraphernalia. Meanwhile, on May 18, two policemen were caught moonlighting as private bodyguards of Chinese nationals residing along Balayan Street. The two, who were assigned to the 52nd and 55th PNP-Special Action Force, were arrested after they got into a fistfight inside the village, and the house photographed in the incident has now been listed for rent.

In a letter written by Muntinlupa Mayor Ruffy Biazon to concerned residents, he noted that “these unwanted incidents concerning foreign nationals are confined to AAV.” He said the city has long phased out POGOs and only has one operating as of July 3.

“It supports what I have been believing even before I became mayor that a combination of conditions inside the village have led to it being an attractive haven for foreign nationals whose behavior runs contrary to peace, tranquility, and safety that long-time residents have been used to,” Biazon said.

The exclusivity of the Ayala Alabang village is reflected in the prices of its homes. In Lamudi Philippines, a four-bedroom house listed for rent costs P250,000 a month. Yet the suspected POGO elements paid for much more — in cold, hard cash.

Rates would go for around P100,000 per bedroom, which means renting a five-bedroom house would have interested tenants shelling out P500,000 a month. This is similar to rental rates in Multinational Village at the peak of POGO operations.

“If you are an owner of a property and you’re an empty nester, you’ll really be tempted,” Soriano said.

After the houses would get leased, neighbors of the newcomers would notice that there would be a number of people going in and out of the house, on top of increased noise due to parties.

“The problem was, the houses were initially rented out by a legal family unit only and then after a few months, it was turned into a staff house. That means 40, 50 people were in there,” Ayala Alabang barangay chairman Lester Suntay said.

The barangay was able to create a system in collaboration with the homeowners association (HOA), which included introducing more stringent policies for lease contracts and conducting “surprise visits.”

“What they did naman… they rented more houses,” Suntay said, saying they would leaase around 6 or 7 more homes. Authorities would point out the number of people in a house whenever they conduct their surprise visits, but those caught would just defend themselves by saying they live next door.

AAV is currently monitoring 160 to 170 houses with reports of suspicious activity. In a town hall meeting, Suntay said 64 of these will have their leases expire by the end of 2024, while others will have leases expiring 2025 onwards.

‘Dummy corporations’

However, AAV’s problem does not end with the leases. “There are also about 19 houses that have been constructed or are being constructed by dummy corporations, which we think are being financed by Chinese money,” said Jun Gil, another concerned AAV resident.

However, the barangay has noted that these developments are just allegations for now.

“It’s really hard to prove,” Suntay said. “I’m hoping that the national agencies [would be] the ones who would push for looking at them, if they really are dummy or not.”

There are 16 corporations said to be monitored by the village homeowners association after they bought AAV properties in the past two years.

Meanwhile, another informed source provided an expanded list of alleged Chinese-owned companies that bought properties, which include five more corporations.

The companies bought properties that are either on the same street or are near each other.

According to the Securities and Exchange Commission documents obtained by Rappler, incorporators of the companies form a mix of Chinese and Filipino nationalities.

Meanwhile, Multinational Village Homeowners’ Association Inc. (MVHAI)pPresident Julio Templonuevo said there are around 30 to 40 houses in their village that are also owned by corporations.

It is not clear whether the individuals named in the documents are legitimate — especially after the Senate investigation on POGOs that led to the dismissal of Bamban mayor Alice Guo. One of the incorporators of the raided POGOs in Tarlac recently claimed that she and three other women got their identities stolen for the company’s official documents.

Involvement of homeowners’ association?

If in AAV, residents, their HOA, and the barangay are working together, residents of Multinational Village are facing another battle, aside from the reported POGO infestation in their subdivision.

Their POGO problem is a story similar to AAV — some houses built to be a family home are reportedly occupied by around 30 to 50 people. In a Senate probe in March 2020, residents said there were instances where electric cables would blow up because they could not handle the requirements of whatever the houses with suspicious activities were doing.

There were also tenement houses being built inside the village, contrary to Multinational’s R1 classification that requires structures to be for single-family dwellings only.

Multinational residents blame the deterioration of their village on the previous officers of their HOA. The two groups are in a bitter battle over the right to lead their village.

“During the time of Mr. [Arnel] Gacutan, pinayagan [‘yung suspected POGOs], so maraming nagparenta ng bahay. Ang rentahan nun, P500,000 a month,” Templonuevo said in a Kapihan press conference on September 4.

(During the time of Mr. Arnel Gacutan, they allowed suspected POGOs, so there were a lot of people who allowed their houses to be rented out. The rates then stood at P500,000 a month.)

Now, rental rates are at around P200,000 to P300,000 per month in Multinational Village. (READ: How China’s online gambling addiction is reshaping Manila)

“The old board was very tolerant. They looked the other way,” Gilbert Alcasid, a concerned Multinational Village resident told Rappler.

In a July 6 MVHAI resolution that Rappler obtained, the association under Templonuevo’s leadership expelled Gacutan from the village HOA, given how he led it during his tenure. Multinational residents also pointed out that he “illegally” constructed a firing range inside the village without consultation and approval of majority of the association members.

The firing range was mentioned in the 2020 Senate probe, where residents wondered and implied that it was built to cater to the uniformed Chinese: “Baka nga mga ano ito, mga military (They say these might be from their military).”

Meanwhile, in June 2020, the NBI raided a house in Multinational that was operating an underground hospital at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Most of its patients were POGO workers.

Templonuevo said there are currently around 12,000 POGO workers in the village, most of whom are Chinese and Vietnamese. But after Marcos made the announcement of a full POGO ban come December, the HOA chief noted that some of the houses have already abandoned their make-shift staff houses in the village.

Bribery

Those with suspected ties to POGOs or illegal gambling can pay their way for access and take advantage of some who are in need.

For instance, in AAV, the alleged POGO elements bribed their way into getting past some of the village rules. Identification cards given to bonafide residents of Ayala Alabang could be bought, therefore, legitimizing the extra undeclared people housed in their rentals.

“Prior to the new admin of the village and the barangay, they can even buy IDs. They were able to corrupt the village association…. that’s why, [when] the new administration stepped in, there were a lot of employees who were fired,” Soriano said.

Suntay said those removed were compromised heads of security in the village, employees from the architectural department who would approve house plans despite blatant violations of village rules, among others.

He pointed out that the involvement of residents has helped clear and fix a few issues in the village so far.

Meanwhile, in Multinational Village, some Filipinos who, residents suspect, are being used as fronts — and named by alleged criminal groups to be able to buy homes in the country — have been caught violating village rules.

Alcasid recalled an incident with a Filipino who was the signatory of a P250,000-lease-contract despite being “merely” a company employee.

“He cannot even afford to pay the fine of P15,000 for driving under the influence and overspeeding inside the village,” Alcasid said.

“I told him, ‘If you want to sue us, I have the contract — it specifies that you are the one who actually leased the house and you’re paying the owner of the house P250,000’ and… he cannot even tell us what his source of income is.”

It remains to be seen whether these groups would really be out of the country before the year ends, especially since the government plans to cancel their work visas by October.

In a GMA News interview, Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission spokesman Winston Casio said the government agency is now monitoring areas in the south of Metro Manila, including the cities of Muntinlupa and Parañaque, as this is where the POGO workers went after authorities raided their POGO complex in Porac, Pampanga.

“[Maybe] it has something to do with the proximity to the airport, proximity to the hotels and casinos,” Casio said. – Rappler.com