The Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) said on Sunday that no Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs) should be functioning across the country due to the cancellation of their licenses taking effect on December 15.
PAOCC executive director Gilbert Cruz said they will monitor the situation on POGO areas along with the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) in compliance with the directives of President Ferdinand Marcos.
“We have a list there and PAGCOR told us that there are only about 20 left. They should be closed until the end. We will monitor that,” Cruz said in a televised interview with GMA 7 Super Radyo DZBB.
“And by January, we will be in total operation because there are really no more POGOs, no more IGLs (internet gambling licensees), even those who say they are licensed BPOs (business process outsourcing), that is not possible anymore,” the PAOCC official added.
Cruz also said they will conduct inspections of the POGOs that have supposedly shut down to see if they are really not operating anymore following the total ban order of President Marcos during his State of the Nation Address last June.
“Next week, we will inspect the ones that are said to have closed… Of course, we don’t want to be singled out, they said they were closed but they didn’t really close,” he said. “So, by Tuesday, we will go to a big POGO hub—reportedly an alleged POGO hub—we will see if they are really closed.”
PAOCC marks end of POGO, expects all licensees to stop operating now
