Economic managers recommended a total ban on POGOs, Finance Secretary Ralph Recto said Wednesday.
Recto said the recommendation was contained in a letter sent to President Marcos.
”We did write a letter because we were asked to make a recommendation. It’s up to the President to make the decision,” Recto said.
National Economic and Development Authority Secretary Arsenio Balisacan also expressed support for the total ban despite a potential revenue loss of as much as P20 billion.
“It may be a big number, but the cost and particularly social cost of POGOs are quite high,” Balisacan said in an interview with “24 Oras.”
“We are trying to position our country as a legitimate place for business where we are trying to attract investors to come, tourists to come and so the least that we want is, to have a reputation. The criminals are still here,” he added.
Recto said the letter was sent to Mr. Marcos “a few weeks ago.”
While the executive debates its pros and cons, several local governments have unilaterally banned POGO activities within their borders.
The Batangas City Council was the latest among them when it went ahead and passed a resolution prohibiting all POGOs amid growing security concerns around such operations.
In an interview on Tuesday, Councilor Nestor Dimacuha, chairman of the Committee on Laws and Rules and author of the resolution, said the supposed economic benefit of POGOs in terms of job creation, property sector earnings, and revenues for government are far outweighed by their social cost.
He said POGOs have been repeatedly linked to crime syndicates engaged in human trafficking, kidnapping, robbery-extortion, money laundering, online scams, and espionage.
POGO operations were earlier banned in Valenzuela City and the entire province of Bulacan, among other jurisdictions.