SENATE deputy minority leader Risa Hontiveros yesterday slammed what she described as the “resigned” attitude of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (Pagcor) in pursuing the P2.2 billion unpaid dues of a shuttered Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (POGO) firm that operated in the country during the Duterte administration.
In a statement, Hontiveros said Pagcor chief and CEO Alejandro Tengco’s statements at the budget hearing of the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives showed he was “resigned not to go after this (POGO) company.”
“Ganun-ganon na lang ba nila kakalimutan ang P2.2 billion? Hindi ‘yan maliit na halaga lalo na para sa ating gobyerno sa panahon ngayon. Responsibilidad ng Pagcor na bantayan ang industriya ng online gambling pero mukhang pinabayaan lang nilang maghasik ng lagim ang mga POGO sa ating bansa (Will Pagcor just forget that P2.2 billion? That is not a small amount especially now that the government needs funds. It is Pagcor’s responsibility to monitor the online gambling industry, but it seems it allowed POGOs to sow chaos in the country),” she said.
She urged the government to run after the Pagcor officials who were remiss in collecting the unpaid P2.2 billion taxes and called for the blacklisting of the unidentified POGO outlet.
Tengco, during the House hearing, announced that Pagcor has revoked the firm’s license and included it in its list of blacklisted gaming companies.
The Pagcor chief has told lawmakers at the lower chamber that the government lost P2.2 billion in revenues from the POGO outlet, which he said shut down at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. The firm’s operators have likewise fled the country.
The business, Tengco said, operated in the country for only eight months during the administration of former President Duterte and did not have a local incorporator, thus making it difficult for Pagcor to run after it.
“Hindi na po mahahabol (We can no longer go after them). We were told they are out of the country already… This was a P2.2 billion receivable from a POGO that was licensed during the last administration, and during the pandemic po nawala na lang pong parang bula ‘yong POGO (the POGO disappeared like bubbles)… they closed shop and ran away,” he added.
Tengco also said Pagcor has informed the Commission on Audit (COA) that the P2.2 billion balance could no longer be collected because the officers of the gaming licensee, who are all foreigners, are no longer in the country.
He said he has told the COA supervisor in Pagcor “that there is no way we can collect that said P2.2 billion anymore because during my term, we immediately tried to find the officers of that licensee and we found out during our investigation that they left after closing shop.”
The COA flagged the P2.2 billion collectibles in a June 2022 report.
“During the last exit conference, I had requested the COA, that maybe that receivable can be stricken off already because we really can’t do anything about it and we can’t go after them,” Tengco said.
But Sen. Grace Poe, in a separate statement, said Pagcor should not give up on running after the amount, and instead coordinate with the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) to collect the unpaid dues.
Poe said Pagcor can start by checking its records to identify the people behind the POGO firm.
“There are those who argued on the financial benefits of keeping POGOs in the country and yet we have a staggering P2.2 billion in unpaid taxes,” she said.
She added: “We hope the administration will also finally put its foot down on the existence of POGOs in the country. If the government can’t make POGOs strictly comply with the laws and regulations, then they must go.”
Tengco said he has given POGO firms one last chance to shape up or else, he will recommend to President Marcos Jr. the shutdown of the whole industry.
To date, he said 30 POGO licensees have been placed under probationary status to force them to reapply on or before September 15 to avoid the revocation of their gaming licenses.
Likewise, six POGO licensees have been suspended this year, including one in Clark for alleged involvement in scam and human trafficking, while 150 service providers have been closed down for various violations, and 70 licensee-imposed fines and penalties totaling to more or less P84 million.
DEBTS
Meanwhile, during Tuesday’s Development Budget Coordinating Committee briefing at the Senate on the proposed P5.768 trillion national budget for next year, Senate minority leader Aquilino Pimentel took exception to the statements of economic managers that the country’s debt is “still manageable” even if it exceeds P14.63 trillion.
He said the rapid escalation of the country’s debts is a “grave concern” as it is on track to reach an unprecedented P15.8 trillion by the end of 2024, which would be equivalent to a P141,000 debt burden for each Filipino.
“How come Filipinos should not worry about their ballooning debt? Ballooning na rin ‘yung principal at debt payments and yet ballooning pa rin ‘yung total amounts (The principal is ballooning and so are the debt payments, so the total amounts are also ballooning),” Pimentel said.
Pimentel said the country’s economic managers should present a “thorough dissection of the amounts involved” regarding debt servicing.
He proposed that the government set aside P1.9 trillion for debt principal and interest payments for 2024, of which P1.2 trillion be designated for the principal and around P670.5 billion in interest payments.
Pimentel said that the P1.9 trillion accounts for 32.94 percent of the budget for next year.
The country’s debt has reached more than P14 million, which economic managers is equivalent to 61 percent of its GDP, as of May 2023, with an average interest rate of around 5 percent,
The National Treasurer said the debt-to-GDP ratio stands at 61 percent while that of the Philippines’ neighboring countries like Malaysia and Thailand are at 61.57 percent, and Singapore at 167 percent of GDP.
But Pimentel will not be convinced: “I take no consolation from debt-to-GDP ratio. The best proof that we are putting our debts to wise expenditures would be if we are able to bring down the absolute level of our debt… I hope the actual financial situation of the country will be explained to the people.”
He also questioned the “unrealistic poverty threshold” set by National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Director General Artemio Balicasan, who said that the standard for a family of five is P12,000 per month, which means that if a family of five is making less than that amount, then they are living below the poverty threshold.
Pimentel said P12,000 a month for a family of five “is too low” and it is even below the current minimum wage.
“There must be some sense of fixing the minimum wage to live decently,” he added.
He called on the economic managers to conduct a thorough review of the entire process to establish a more realistic poverty threshold and to accurately assess the poverty incidence rate.
