WHEN President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. announced in July last year that effective that day, while delivering his third State of the Nation Address, all Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators or POGOS are banned and given until Dec. 31 to close their operations.
The nation clapped while members of the House of Representatives and the Senate cheered and rose to their feet, chanting “BBM, BBM.”
The President said he heard the call of his countrymen clearly.
POGOS have disguised themselves as legitimate entities, but their activities have ventured into illicit areas, which are poles away from gaming, like financial scamming, money laundering, fake or non-existent birth certificates, prostitution, human trafficking, kidnapping, brutal torture and murder.
The President was right when he called POGOS, hitherto a booming industry which catered largely to a Chinese clientele whose operations peaked in 2019 with nearly 300 operators, a grave abuse of Philippine law.
Before end of 2024, authorities told media only 17 remained, with the projection all would cease operations by Dec. 31.
.It seems there were humps along the road to these POGOs wrapping up for good.
Both the Department of Finance and the National Economic and Development Authority have backed the ban on POGOs. The DOF allowing POGOs to proliferate is costing the Philippines around P99.5 billion a year.
A month and a half since the total ban of POGOs in the country, there are still 11,000 illegal workers conducting scamming activities, according to a senior government official whose agency has been tasked to stop them.
In a broadcast interview heard nationwide, Undersecretary Gilbert Cruz, the executive director of the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission, said government could eliminate the illegal POGO activities in one year.
On Nov. 5, 2024, President Marcos Jr. issued an executive order prohibiting POGOs, internet gaming, and other offshore gaming operations, the order encompassing illegal offshore gaming operations, license applications, license renewals, and cessation of operations.
In its ongoing campaign against illegal POGOs the PAOCC head said they are in a joint effort with the National Bureau of Investigation, the Philippine National Police, the Bureau of Immigration, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the Anti-Money Laundering Council.
Let’s not just stare at the figures. We earnestly urge the authorities to catch and book the remaining 11,000 illegal POGO workers.