LICENSED Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (POGO) firms have also been subjected to operations by law enforcement agencies, Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian said yesterday as he debunked the statement of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (Pagcor) that only illegal POGO hubs are raided by operatives.
Gatchalian said that contrary to the claim of Pagcor, operatives have also carried out operations against licensed POGOs which were used as fronts by syndicates for their illegal activities such as love scams and cryptocurrency scams.
He cited as examples that the POGO center raided in Sun Valley in Clark, Pampanga, which was operated by Colorful and Leaf Group, was a sub-lessee of Pagcor-licensed CGC Technologies, while the POGO centers run by Smartweb Technology Corporation and Rivendell in Pasay City also had valid licenses from Pagcor.
Gatchalian said these POGO hubs were involved in human trafficking, illegal detention, torture, various forms of online fraud and scamming, and prostitution.
He said Hongsheng Technology and Zun Yuan Technology located in Bamban, Tarlac also had valid gaming licenses from Pagcor at the time they were raided. Hongsheng was raided on February 2023, while Zun Yuan was raided on March this year.
Gatchalian said that based on official documents, Pagcor conducted an inspection of the Hongsheng compound weeks before the raid on February 1, 2023, and inspection papers showed compliance with health and safety protocols.
“What is even more baffling is that Pagcor inspected Hongsheng on the same day it was raided,” he added.
Official records from Pagcor, the senator said, likewise showed that Zun Yuan still possessed a provisional license when authorities raided it last March. He noted though that POGO hub’s license was canceled by the regulating body the same day that the raid was carried out.
He said Pagcor also inspected Zun Yuan from March 1 to 10 this year and found no irregularities. It supposedly conducted another inspection on the facility hours before police operatives raided the compound last March 13.
In the case of Lucky South 99, Gatchalian said he has proof that the facility is connected to Hongsheng, which has a license from Pagcor.
“Yung mga walang lisensya, ginagamit nila ang may lisensya para makapasok dito sa Pilipinas ang foreign nationals na gumagawa ng mga krimen. At ‘pag may lisensya ka na sa Pagcor, mabibigyan ka na rin ng Alien Employment Permit mula sa DOLE pati na Alien Certificate of Registration Identity Card mula sa Bureau of Immigration (Those which do not have licenses use the licensed ones so that foreign nationals can run their criminal activities hete. And once a facility has a license issued by Pagcor, they will be issued Alien Employment Permits by the Department of Labor and Employment, and Alien Certificate of Registration IDs by the Bureau of Immigration)” Gatchalian said.
“Tila nahawa na yata ang PAGCOR kay Mayor Alice Guo at hindi na naalala na ‘yung ibang nare-raid na POGO ay lisensyado nila mismo (It seems that Pagcor has been hit by the same bug that hit Mayor Alice Guo that it can no longer recall the fact that even licenses hubs have been raided by police operatives). Pagcor’s blatant failure to regulate the POGO industry has led us to a situation where POGOs have become a menace to our society,” he added.
He said POGOs continue to proliferate in the country because the employment permits of POGO workers were not canceled even if Pagcor has already revoked the licenses to operate of POGOs found engaged in illegal activities, POGO activities are not being monitored, and the government has no clear regulations in relation to the operation of the offshore gaming industry.
“Kaya tuloy ang ligaya ng mga POGO sa bansa (That’s why POGOs continue their operations),” he added.
In a related development, Senate President Francis Escudero yesterday told the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) to stop making excuses and instead just explain why it failed to effectively implement the SIM Registration Act.
Escudero made the remark after the NTC said that the SIM Registration Act is not a “silver bullet” against messaging scams, including false messages sent out by syndicates.
“Instead of simply mouthing excuses, they should explain why they have been ineffective and what, if at all, they need to enable them to effectively combat and eliminate this social ill,” Escudero said in a Viber message to the media.
He said that while the NTC cannot be held liable for not effectively implementing the law, “albeit it may constitute non-feasance in office.”
“But as I said, they should help us help them by saying what else they need to perform their mandate,” he added.
Sen. Grace Poe said the SIM Registration Act “was meant to be a joint effort by all government agencies and sectors with NTC at the helm leading the fight against text scams.”
But with the ineffective implementation of the law, Poe said it has become apparent that text scams and spams “have become our new normal.”
“What has NTC done so far? Ano ba ang nagawa (What have been done) against bad actors, including those in POGO hubs who were caught with text blast machines and other violations? The agency needs to account for its own actions, or lack thereof,”Poe said in a statement.
She said telcos should also join the fight against text scams by “devising a more straightforward mechanism that clearly shows immediate action on the users’ concerns and filters against text blast softwares.”
“Teaching users about spam filters should also be included in the agency’s continuous information campaign. Ultimately, NTC needs to be more proactive than the scammers. It should lead the fight against it and not just stand idly by as this text scam pandemic continues to paralyze our systems,” she added.
Gatchalian has earlier slammed the NTC for its failure to implement the SIM Registration Act, which he said led to scammers involved with various POGOs to operate several fraud and scamming activities.
He said the “common denominator” among POGOs which were subjected to raids is the discovery of a significant number of SIM cards used for fraud and scamming activities.
