On Wednesday, The Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations and Gender Equality resumed its hearing on crimes related to the Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs).
During the panel hearing, Jessa Mendoza, a lieutenant from the Philippine Navy, said that she has been falsely accused, and had been a victim of identity theft. She stated that her name, signature, and TIN number were used without her consent, to build the 193 corporations.
Starting April 2023, she has repeatedly received Leave of Absence (LOA) documents for tax deficiency linked to the said corporations. Her name was listed as director and/or treasurer in the papers, along with other individuals with foreign sounding names.
Mendoza stressed that she was never invovled in any of the mentioned corporations, nor is she is affiliated with them; expounding that she has never heard of such, with the exception of her two relatives whose names were also listed as incorporators.
Furthermore, she was then indicted for violating Republic Act 1119 or the Social Security Act of 2018. A warrant of arrest was issued against her, forcing her to post a cash bond of P108,000 to secure against preventive imprisonment.
"I assert that I have no involvement in any business venture and that the only source of fund or income is my job, as a devoted member of the Armed Forces of the Philippines; which I have committed 14 years of my life in serving my country with courage, integrity, and loyalty," she said.
In the years that Mendoza has spent serving the country, she is now apprehensive about the issues surrounding her case. The possibility of a criminal record is a grave threat on her, and her relatives whose lives might also be affected and endangered.
Mendoza added that she has spent time patrolling the West Philippine Sea, a small gesture of contribution to safeguarding the country's territorial integrity against foreign instrusion.
"It is tragic that after returning to the safety of our shores, I now find my very person invaded by natural and juridical personalities with foreign sounding names. But the real tragedy is the real possibility that I will be prosecuted and tried by the instrumentalities of the very own institution that I have sworn to defend and protect in the cost of my own life," Mendoza stated.
