A proposed measure to ban all Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO) received overwhelming support from members of the Senate.
“I am delighted to find out that all members of the Committee on Ways and Means signed Committee Report 342, signifying their support for the enactment of the measure,” said Senator Sherwin Gatchalian, the main author of the measure and chairman of the committee.
The committee report essentially recommended the approval of Senate Bill 2868, which bans all POGOs in the country and repeals Republic Act 11590—the only law that legitimized POGO operations in the Philippines.
Gatchalian expressed confidence that the Senate may be able to ratify the measure within the year given the firm support of his colleagues.
Such eventuality would provide timely support for the President’s directive for all POGOs to cease operations by the end of the year, according to Gatchalian.
“Legislating the ban on POGOs would hopefully bring to an end all the various criminalities spawned by the industry,” he said.
Aside from Gatchalian, lawmakers who signed the committee report and affirmed their support for the bill include Senators Joseph Victor Ejercito, Mark Villar, Nancy Binay, Pia Cayetano, Ronald Dela Rosa, Christopher Go, Lito Lapid, Loren Legarda, Imee Marcos, Grace Poe, Raffy Tulfo, Joel Villanueva, Migz Zubiri, Risa Hontiveros, Ramon Revilla Jr. and Cynthia Villar.
Ex-officio members of the committee namely President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Estrada, Majority Floor Leader Francis Tolentino, and Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel III also signed the report.
For the past several years, Gatchalian has been advocating for a permanent ban on all POGO operations in the country, citing criminalities that have mushroomed from the industry including human trafficking, kidnapping, torture, and various online scams.
He maintained that POGO operations have brought more harm than good as the economic costs of fighting POGO-related criminalities greatly outweigh the benefits derived from such operations.
Gatchalian also found out that licensed POGOs are not paying the correct taxes.
He said POGOs have under-declared tax payments to the government, as shown by discrepancies between gross gaming revenues submitted to the Bureau of Internal Revenue and Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation.
