Licenses issued to 43 firms to be canceled, says Tengco
THE Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp (Pagcor) yesterday said it will cancel the licenses it has issued to 43 Internet Gaming Licensees (IGLs) following President Marcos Jr.’s order of a total ban on the offshore gambling industry during his third State of the Nation Address (SONA) last Monday.
The President gave the Pagcor until the end of the year to stop the operation of all offshore gambling firms in the country.
“No problem in closing down POGOs (Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators) because I can invoke national security and the president’s order,” Pagcor chairman Alejandro Tengco said.
In a hearing at the House of Representatives yesterday, Tengco said POGOs have been renamed as IGLs under the Marcos administration to remove the “stigma” that stuck to it and to rebrand the industry after the industry’s structure was changed and more stringent guidelines were adopted by the Pagcor.
Tengco told lawmakers there will be no distinction between POGOs and IGLs when the industry is shut down.
“The President’s order was clear,” he said in Filipino. “I’ll abide by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s order.”
POGOs emerged in 2016 during the administration of former President Rodrigo Duterte, with companies setting up shop and targeting overseas markets, including China where gambling is banned.
The POGO industry, which at its peak prior to the COVID-19 pandemic involved 300 firms, boosted demand for apartments, offices, and transportation services.
Speaker Martin Romualdez ordered committee chairmen at the House of Representatives to prioritize the passage of bills that will put to a halt to all POGO operations in the country by the end of the year.
Romualdez also instructed the House Joint Committee on Public Order and Safety and Games and Amusement to continue with its ongoing congressional investigation on the operation of criminal syndicates responsible for illegal activities linked to POGOs “in order to unmask their modus operandi and their masterminds.”
“Immediately after the SONA of President Marcos, Jr., I met with House leaders and top Secretariat officials last night in my office. I asked them to come up with a proposed legislative measure that will put to a halt all POGO operations in the country effective December 2024 as ordered by the President,” he said.
“This, however, will not stop ongoing (the) House investigation on the criminal and other illegal activities linked to POGO. Hopefully, the House can learn from the hearings — on their modus operandi and the brains behind these activities — as part of inputs for the proposed measure that we will be crafting,” the House leader stressed.
The Speaker explained that a law needs to be enacted to ensure that all anti-POGO measures are institutionalized not only during the Marcos administration but also beyond his term.
“We want this to be a legacy of President Marcos Jr. We’ll make sure that criminal syndicates will not be able to operate through POGOs and we’ll hold accountable their masterminds and leaders,” he said in Filipino.
Romualdez was informed by Secretariat officials that there are several House bills and resolutions pending before the House Committee on Games and Amusement concerning the operations of POGOs.
These include House Bill (HB) No. 5082 filed by Manila Rep. Bienvenido Abante, Jr., HB No. 10525 filed by party-list Reps. France Castro (ACT), Arlene Brosas (Gabriela), and Raoul Danniel Manuel (Kabataan), who are members of the militant Makabayan bloc; House Resolution (HR) No. 503 filed by Rizal Rep. Juan Fidel Nograles, HR No. 1197 filed by Cagayan de Oro City Rep. Rufus Rodriguez, HR No. 1524 also filed by the Makabayan bloc, and the privilege speech of Rep. Marissa Magsino (PL, OFW).
The Speaker’s statement said these measures should be harmonized and should result in the filing of a substitute bill, which is acceptable to all stakeholders who participated in the committee hearings.
“I am requesting all the Committee chairs concerned to give this a priority. For the House Committee on Public Order and Security to submit their comprehensive report and recommendations to the Committee on Games and Amusement as soon as possible. And for the House Committee on Games and Amusement to come up with a committee report for immediate plenary deliberation,” the Speaker said
“I want all bases in the total POGO ban covered in the proposed measure. We have to ensure that POGO operators will not just resort to guerrilla operators or go under cover.
The law must be crafted with iron-clad provisions to prevent a resurrection of these criminal and illegal activities,” he added.
POGO WORKERS
Tengco said the 43 licensed IGLs directly and indirectly employ around 40,000 Filipinos, while nearly 23,000 foreigners worked in the industry as of December 2023.
He said the government stands to lose around P23 billion in license fees and taxes annually from the licensed POGOs.
The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said it is ready to assist all workers to be displaced by the President’s order.
In a radio interview, Labor Secretary Bienvenido Laguesma said the Department has long been prepared to offer aid to would-be displaced POGO workers.
“We have long anticipated this outcome. It was only yesterday (Monday) when the President announced the total ban but before that, we have already started coordinating with companies in this sector,” said Laguesma.
“Within the week, they can already avail of the assistance. We have an existing program and corresponding budget for affected workers,” he added.
Laguesma said among the assistance they will make available to POGO workers is their upskilling and retraining to upgrade their qualifications and enable them to find better jobs.
The labor chief said they are also looking to offer livelihood assistance to the displaced POGO workers.
“We need to give them options (for livelihood),” said Laguesma.
He also said the DOLE is set to conduct a special job fair that would offer local and overseas jobs for the displaced POGO workers.
Laguesma said DOLE field offices are already conducting profiling of the POGO workers to “identify appropriate interventions that can assist affected Filipino workers in transitioning to new work opportunities.”
The Department of Finance (DOF), in a position paper addressed to the President, said that the fear that an estimated 20,000 local POGO employees will be displaced following the government’s ban are unfounded since there are other sectors that are more than capable to accommodate them.
The DOF said that other industries, such as the business process outsourcing (BPO) sector could absorb the affected workers given their technical skills.
The DOF highlighted that that the IT-BPM sector employed around 1.44 million direct jobs in 2021, and targets to fully employ 2.5 million individuals by 2028.
Finance secretary Ralph Recto said the DOF will work closely with the DOLE to ensure that the workers’ incomes will not be severely disrupted and that they will be given proper reskilling and upskilling training for new employment.
“We have until the end of the year to ensure that all displaced Filipino workers will have new jobs and I think that is more than enough time,” Recto said.
According to the DOF, at its peak in 2019, the POGO industry employed 97,283 foreign nationals, or around 82.3 percent of its total workforce.
This figure dropped to 41,347 in 2023, with the workforce share easing to 66.6 percent.
The Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) said while it does not have any POGO locators in the economic zones, it can assist in the process of providing training and employment for displaced Filipino workers through the IT-BPM sector.
The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) said it is prepared to assist those who will be laid off due to the closure of POGO hubs.
Social Welfare Secretary Rex Gatchalian, during the 2024 Post-SONA Discussions on Environmental Protection and Disaster Risk Reduction held yesterday afternoon in Pasay City, said the DSWD would assist both Filipinos and foreign nationals who would be affected by the closure.
He said that based on the data they received, many of those who would lose their jobs are “non-Filipino citizens.”
“Base sa aming datos, ang karamihang nagtatrabaho o maaaring ma-displace sa mga POGO centers are non- Filipino citizens, although mayroon pa ring mga Filipino. The non-Filipino citizens, normally, are victims of human trafficking (Based on our data, many of those working or would be displaced from the POGO centers are non- Filipino citizens, although there are some Filipinos. The non-Filipino citizens, normally, are victims of human trafficking),” he said.
“Kahit hindi sila mga Filipino, bulnerable at biktima rin sila (Even if they are not Filipinos, they are vulnerable and victims too)” he added.
Gatchalian said DSWD would be working with concerned embassies when dealing with the foreign nationals to ensure that they are also provided assistance.
He said the DSWD and the Department of Justice (DOJ) are also running the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking – Tahanan ng Inyong Pag-asa (IACAT-TIP) Center, a multi-purpose building that houses victim-survivors of human trafficking.
“We house them there temporarily, work with their governments, so they can go home safely in the fastest possible time,” he said.
Gatchalian said DSWD may provide cash aid under the Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situation (AICS) program as well as cash assistance to Filipinos who would be displaced to enable them to start their small business under the Sustainable Livelihood Program (SLP).
Gatchalian also hinted the DSWD is interested in using the office spaces of the shutdown POGO hubs and convert these to more shelters for individuals that the agency is assisting.
CONGRESSIONAL PROBES
Senate President Francis Escudero said he sees no reason for the upper chamber to stop its committee hearings on the POGOs.
“Walang dahilan para hindi ipagpatuloy yun dahil garantiya yun na maisasakatuparan ang sinabi ni Pangulong Marcos kahapon sa SONA na banned na ang POGO at magwa-wind down na lang yung mananatiling legal na POGO (There is no reason to stop [the Senate investigation] because it is a guarantee that President Marcos’ order to ban POGOs and the legal ones need to wind down [until the end of the year] will be put into motion),” Escudero said in a press conference.
He said the Senate investigation aims to craft policies to totally ban the POGO industry, and not just the illegal ones.
“Tama lang na ituloy yan para matiyak na illegal at talagang masusupil, may lisensiya o walang lisensiya. Nasa diskresyon na ni Sen. Risa (Hontiveros) kung ipagpapatuloy niya yung kanyang pagdinig kaugnay sa bagay na yan. Walang pipigil sa kanya sa pagdinig na yan (It is right to continue with the hearing to make sure that illegal POGOs can be stopped, and even those with licenses or without licenses. It is the discretion of Sen. Risa if she wants to continue the hearings. No one can stop her from doing so),” he said.
Hontiveros has earlier said she will continue with the hearings even if the President has already ordered a ban on POGOs “to demand accountability” from those involved in the illegal POGOs.
“We will also continue to ensure that we strengthen policies that would prevent industries like POGOs from ever emerging again,” she said.
Escudero said he does not see the need to pass a bill banning POGOs since people who run the industry are witty and will just come up with other forms of offshore gaming to enter the country again.
“Sa galing ng mga tao sa larangang yan, mag-iimbento palagi yan. Sa dulo, kung nais natin ipagbawal ang pasugalan, at sugal sa bansa, pwes, ipagbawal na natin lahat at susuporta ako palagi doon. Mapa- POGO, mapa-casino, eh di sabay-sabay na natin kung talagang tingin natin ay nakakasama yan sa ating Lipunan at sa ating mga kababayan (People in that industry are so witty that they will invent other forms of gaming. In the end, when we really want to ban gambling, we might as well ban all forms of gambling whether they are POGOs or casinos, let’s ban them altogether if we really think that gambling is bad for the society and our people),” he said.
He said if they will craft laws to ban gambling, the bigger question is that if it will include the games being run by the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office.
“Isasama mo rin ba yung lotto? Sugal din ba yun? So, depende. Dapat national policy yan kaugnay ng sugal kung gusto talaga nating malipon ang masasamang epekto ng bisyong ito (Will we include lotto? Is that considered gambling? So, it will really depend. The government should have a national policy on gambling if we really want to stop its bad effects),” he said.
At the House, following Romualdez’s directive, the House joint committee, chaired by Reps. Dan Fernandez (public order) and Antonio Ferrer (Cavite) resumed its hearing on the social ills caused by POGO operations.
Fernandez said the panel will continue to ferret out the truth to unmask the personalities behind POGOs.
Tengco told lawmakers that illegal POGOs are not under the Pagcor’s jurisdiction since only 43 IGLs are operating now from as many as 298.
Tengco said the challenge for law enforcers now is to prevent licensed firms from going underground.
The Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) has said there are 402 canceled or illegal POGOs, which are home to scam farms and other crimes such as human trafficking and torture.
The crackdown on these illegal firms, the PAOCC said, will continue, adding that foreign nationals working in these companies will be deported.
In a radio interview, PAOCC chairman Gilbert Cruz said they are ready in case IGLs shift to underground operations.
Cruz said: “If they will resort to guerrilla operations, we can easily arrest them because we now have the support of local government units. We can easily run after them because this (POGO ban) was already ordered by the President. We were given a guidance and direction so there will be collaboration, including the local government units.”
PAOCC spokesman Winston Casio said they believe a good number of the POGOs will leave the country following the President’s order.
“But then again, that doesn’t mean that all of them would leave and pack up their bags. A good number of these would still remain (in the country) and simply go underground,” said Casio.
“Now, that is the challenge but the different agencies of government are fairly competent to meet that challenge head-on,” added Casio.
Cruz said the PAOCC will coordinate with other agencies, including the Department of Justice, PNP and the NBI to implement the President’s order to ban POGOs in the country.
“Rest assured that PAOCC and the other law enforcement agencies will continue to neutralize the scam farms that are still operating. More earnestly, PAOCC and its partner agencies will strive to haul these foreign criminals and their local enablers to jail to pay for their crimes,” he said.
The Bureau of Immigration (BI) said it can easily identify legitimate foreign workers in offshore online gaming hubs in the country.
However, BI spokesperson Dana Krizia Sandoval said identifying those who enter the country illegally will be difficult.
“Those who applied for working visa, they are in our data base so we would be able to extract them,” Sandoval said, adding that once they get the names of the companies from Pagcor, then identifying the names of these workers would be easy.
“In terms of identification, we would be able to extract from our data base who are these individuals who have been issued with working visas and who have been petitioned by these online gaming companies,” she said.
Sandoval said the BI will issue an advisory with regards to the process in the next few days.
NO SHOWS
Former presidential spokesman Harry Roque and Cassandra Ong, the authorized representative of Lucky South 99, who is a confirmed Chinese citizen, were no-shows in the House hearing yesterday.
Lawmakers last week invited Roque to explain his side after Tengco denied his claim that he was not representing Lucky South 99 Outsourcing Inc. – the operator of the POGO facility in Porac, Pampanga that was recently raided by authorities – when the two of them met in July last year.
The joint panel invited Roque to explain why he said he requested the meeting for his client, Whirlwind Corporation, a service provider which owns the lot where the Lucky South 99 facility was built.
Roque has said Whirlwind was his “only client” and that he accompanied Ong, Lucky South’s corporate secretary, “to ensure that Whirlwind would not allow the use of their leased properties to violate the law.”
Also no-shows during the hearing were former Technology and Livelihood Resource Center (TLRC) official Dennis Cunanan, who was blamed for Lucky South’s then unpaid $500,000 (P27.5 million) arrears to Pagcor, and former Pagcor chair Andrea Domingo.
Unlike all the others, however, Cunanan sent the committee a letter to explain his absence and sent a lawyer to represent him.
Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert Ace Barbers said the panel should issue Roque and the others show-cause orders to explain their absences, a move which Fernandez said will be tackled later on.
In a press statement, Barbers said the President’s directive would surely financially hurt local politicians and other government officials called “Bagong Makapili or Chinese enablers” who earned various perks and privileges in the past for turning a blind eye despite the social menace brought in by POGOs.
The lawmaker, who chairs the House Committee on Dangerous Drugs, said the privilege speech he delivered in November 2019 against POGO operations appear to be “prophetic” as he warned then that the Chinese-operated online gaming firms could become an avenue for illegal drugs trafficking and money laundering schemes.
“We should not just let go of these POGOs. We should also investigate deep, prosecute and jail all their workers who committed various crimes. They all deserve appropriate punishment under our laws,” he added.
Aside from those crimes, he said other unscrupulous Chinese nationals have managed to play around with Philippine laws, bribing their way in and out of mess, obtain fraudulently acquired Filipino identification, and pose as legit Filipinos transacting local businesses such as real estate firms.
‘POGO POLITICS’
The Commission on Elections (Comelec) yesterday heaved a sigh of relief following the President’s order to ban POGOs in the country, saying money from the industry will no longer be their concern come the May 2025 national and local polls.
In a press conference, Comelec chairman George Garcia said they are no longer worried of “POGO politics” coming into play come the forthcoming elections.
“By that (elections) time, there will be no more POGOs. And we believe that when the President says it’s enough for POGOs, then that will be the end. When there is no more POGO… There will be no more POGO politics,” he said.
The poll chief has previously said he is concerned that POGO politics will be a factor in the 2025 polls, referring to the intersection of the POGO funds with the country’s political systems.
He said the use of POGO funds that may lead to corruption and policy manipulation.
Garcia said the POGO ban will allow the Comelec to focus on other similar concerns come the election season.
“Narco politics, jueteng politics, we will focus on other kinds of ‘politics’,” said Garcia. — With Gerard Naval, Angela Celis, Irma Isip, Jocelyn Montemayor, Raymond Africa, Victor Reyes and Ashzel Hachero
