SEN. Sherwin Gatchalian yesterday called for a review of the regulatory powers of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) over the offshore gaming industry following the raid conducted on an internet gaming licensee (IGL) found to be involved in illegal activities, including prostitution.
Gatchalian filed Senate Resolution No. 853 on Monday and urged the appropriate committee to investigate the October 27 raid on a building housing an online gaming hub which was located near the Pasay City Sub-station 1.
Gatchalian said the investigation will try to find out if PAGCOR has the ability “to properly regulate the operations that contributed to the failure to abate the commission of various crimes perpetrated by internet gaming licensees.”
“It is imperative that the power and capability of PAGCOR to regulate the gaming industry be reviewed,” he said.
Following the recommendation of Gatchalian’s committee to ban the operation of Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs) in the country, PAGCOR issued a revised offshore gaming regulations known as the Internet Gaming Licensing Regulations which took effect on July 12, 2023, and mandated existing POGO licensees and accredited service providers to re-apply under the new regulations.
The new regulations, according to the regulatory agency, provides for stricter controls over the offshore gaming industry.
PAGCOR is mandated to regularly conduct inspections and compliance review any time after the issuance of internet gaming licenses to confirm the legality of the conduct of operations of its licensees.
But just three months after the implementation of PAGCOR’s Internet Gaming Licensing Regulations, the IGL hub raided in Pasay City has been found engaging in illegal activities, including prostitution, human trafficking, torture, kidnapping for ransom, and online scams.
Sen. Grace Poe has earlier slammed the decision of PAGCOR to rebrand POGOs to internet gaming licensees (IGLs), which she said was intended to supposedly serve as a cover to hide the industry’s illegal activities.
Poe has said that the change in acronym and name of internet gaming entities should not be used to camouflage the illicit activities of POGOs.
In filing SRN 853, Gatchalian stressed that it was “obvious that organized criminal syndicates are already operating in our country.”
“These syndicates have already corrupted our enforcers enabling them to operate freely even beside the police station,” he said.
Law enforcers led by the Presidential Anti-Crime Commission (PACC) and Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT) on October 27 raided a building housing an online gaming hub located near the Pasay City Sub-station 1.
Discovered inside the hub were a prostitution den, torture chambers, and online scam centers which also led to the discovery of 731 foreign and Filipino workers, and seven allegedly trafficked Filipino women.
Nine foreign nationals who were reportedly behind the illegal operations are now under investigation.
As a result of the raid, the chief of the Pasay City Police Station and 26 other officers have been relieved from their posts while they are being investigated for possible neglect of duty since the POGO establishment has been operating “for a long time already.”
Senate deputy minority leader Risa Hontiveros lauded the PNP leadership for the relief of the Pasay City police officers who may have been remiss of their jobs.
“Lantarang pangto-torture at prostitusyon ang mga nangyayari sa isang napakalaking building pero hindi nila alam? Imposible! (Torture and prostitution have been happening in a building but they were not aware of it? That’s impossible!),” Hontiveros said.