PRESIDENT Marcos Jr. yesterday said all licenses for Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs) and internet gaming licensees (IGLs) are now cancelled.
“Hindi na kailanman papayagang manalasa ang mga ito. Sino mang magtangka na magsagawa ng ilegal na operasyon ay haharap sa buong pwersa ng ating bansa (They can never operate again. Anyone who attempts to illegally operate will face the full force of the law),” Marcos said in a social media post.
Earlier yesterday, Interior Secretary Juanito Victor Remulla said there would be no licensed POGOs operating by December 15 this year, but illegal or guerilla operations may pop-up and flourish as a result.
The President, during his third state of the nation address (SONA) in July, ordered the ban of POGOs by the end of this year.
“That’s two parts: All licenses are cancelled – we will be POGO-free; guerilla operations will flourish but we will go after them,” Remulla said in mixed English and Filipino in a briefing in Malacañang.
Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (Pagcor) chairman and Chief Executive Officer Alejandro Tengco, in the same briefing, said there are currently 17 remaining licensed POGO that are still winding down their operations.
Tengco said this is down from 60 during the SONA and from 300 when he assumed as Pagcor head in August 2022.
He said some POGO operators, on their own, have winded down their operations and even applied for the downgrading of the working visas of their workers.
“By December 15, all licenses are cancelled, even the IGLs [internet gaming licensees] are all cancelled, nothing would be left,” he also said, adding that Tengco said law enforcement authorities would pursue and put an end to the illegal operations.
Remulla said he would personally oversee the closure of the remaining POGO hubs, including the one at the Island Cove in Kawit, Cavite that he would close on December 15 “to show the government’s resolve in shutting down POGO operations in the country.” Island Cove was formerly owned by the Remulla family.
He said the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) would also come up with an executive order requiring all local chief executives to submit a report on suspicious activities and those similar to the setting up of illegal or rouge POGOs within their localities.
He said among the factors that local officials should look out for are the movement of foreigners who are setting up activities or businesses in their areas, and the congregation of groups in houses and the spike in bandwidth use in an area.
Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) executive director Gilbert Cruz said at present, they are going after more than 100 “rogue” or “guerilla” POGOs which are now being operated by former POGO employees and conducting businesses in apartments or houses, hotels or even resorts, and involve less people.
He said PAOCC is also currently after four major “POGO hubs,” including three that are operating in the Mimaropa region and one “in a resort in the north.”
