Company records obtained by Rappler show that the property transferred from the Remullas to the children of junket operator Kim Wong
CAVITE, Philippines – Dubbed as the biggest Philippine offshore gaming operator (POGO) hub in the country, the Island Cove in Kawit, Cavite, closed down in a high-profile ceremony on Tuesday, December 17, with a company official downplaying the owners’ link to the family of prominent Chinese junket operator Kim Wong.
Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla led other heads of agencies in inspecting, and then padlocking facilities inside the 30-hectare hub on Tuesday. He wanted to “make it clear that since the transfer of ownership of Island Cove to the lessors, the Remulla family has had no involvement whatsoever,” he said in a mix of english and Filipino.
Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (Pagcor) chief Al Tengco said the hub had no violation, but was only complying to the ban on all offshore gaming operations, including legal licensees.
Tengco said the closure was to send a message that the all-out POGO ban of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. spares no one. “Marami kasing katanungan sa araw-araw kung ‘yung pinaka-malaking hub sa Cavite ay ano na ba talaga ang estado sa pangkasalukuyan,” said Tengco. (There are many questions on the current status of the biggest hub in Cavite.)
Who owns it?
Remulla said that as far as he remembered, their family already sold the property in 2018 to First Orient International Ventures Corporation, which then repurposed it into a POGO hub starting January 2019.
First Orient was indeed owned by Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla and Pagcor director Gilbert Remulla and three others in 2018, according to the 2018 General Information Sheet submitted by the company to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). By 2019, First Orient was owned by a new set of six officers, including Kevin and Kathryn Wong who we know from past reporting are Kim’s children; and Kimberly Wong who shares the same address as the other two.
Wong was implicated in the 2016 Bangladesh Bank heist, one of the biggest cyber heists in the world where stolen money from the Central Bank of Bangladesh was funneled into Philippine bank RCBC and found its way to Wong’s casino. Wong claimed he did not know it was stolen money, and voluntarily returned $4.63 million.
But First Orient general manager Ron Lim tried to conceal, or at least downplay, the Wongs’ ownership of the company. In 2019, Kevin Wong was being quoted as manager of Oriental Group which by that time was already planning operations in Island Cove, according to a Manila Standard report. “Different [company], no relation at all,” said Lim, and even added, “I think that’s a confusion because the name is First Orient, people thought it’s Oriental Group.”
A Meralco press release in 2023 identified First Orient as its partner in putting up a substation on Island Cove, and the banner photo on the release shows Meralco officials with Kevin and Kimberly Wong.
There is also another company by the name Island Cove Corporation which in 2022 was owned by Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla and four others, according to amended articles of incorporation filed with the SEC. By 2023, Island Cove Corporation was owned by the three Wongs plus three others.
We showed Lim this 2023 Island Cove Corp General Information Sheet and asked if it was the same, but the general manager replied: “Wala na yan (That’s no more), I think that company is dissolved already. It’s not us.”
Rappler obtained First Orient’s SEC documents after the ceremony.
We also showed Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla the Island Cove Corporation documents, but he said he did not know the nitty-gritty of the company structure. “Sa totoo lang. hindi ako nakikialam sa negosyo ng tatay ko noon. Ang buhay ko noon ay nasa public service lang eh,” he said. (Honestly I didn’t get involved in my father’s business back then. My life was just in public service.)
There’s also a company called Island Cove Hotel and Leisure Park which was incorporated by the Remulla family, consistent with the interior secretary’s description of their former property as being a resort venue for seminars and conferences.
A little town
Lim said First Orient acted as the lessor and it rented out a total of 57 buildings to four POGO licensees. We later verified with Pagcor that these licensees were Glarion Technologies Corporation, Merit Legend Solutions Incorporated, Squared Route Technologies Corporation, and Digital Jenius Incorporated.
Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla was adamant that the POGO hub was not granted any permit signed by him even when he was Cavite governor, nor his brothers — Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla and Pagcor director Gilbert Remulla.
Marcos appointed Gilbert Remulla to the Pagcor board in 2022.
“Noong siya’y na-appoint, ito ay existing na at wala na siyang pinirmahan (when he was appointed, this was already existing and he did not sign anything) in whatever way or form to endorse the operation of this island,” said Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla.
Lim said the hub employed 30,000 at its peak, but only employed 4,000 before closure.
Reporters who were able to tour parts of the compound on foot saw a sprawling little town complete with its own leisure club, clinic, beauty center, hotel, restaurants, salons, residential houses, playgrounds, mid-rise buildings that served as dormitories and what looked like barracks. Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla said that the hub was already disconnected from power last month, and its only occupants were some caretakers.
Asked whether they received any adverse information at all about the operations of Island Cove, Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) chief Undersecretary Gilbert Cruz said, “May mga reports but hindi kami nagkaroon ng pagkakataon to validate (There were reports but we never had a chance to validate).”
“‘Yun ‘yung sinasabi nilang totoo ba ‘yung kampanya ng presidente kasi hindi pa napapasara ang Island Cove, but now nai-ban, naipasara, at least nakita natin ang sincerity ng government in their plan of curbing or putting a stop to POGO operations,” said Cruz.
(They always ask, is the President’s campaign really true because Island Cove has not been shut down, but now it’s been banned, it’s been closed, and at least we see the sincerity of the government in their plan of curbing or putting a stop to POGO operations.)Play Video
