THE concept of running a Philippine Offshore Gaming Operation (POGO) has metamorphosed into an actual “`center for vices” right under the noses of the Pasay City police.
In the words of Justice Secretary Crispin Remulla, this POGO hub in Pasay City is actually a vice center that hosts various illegal and immoral businesses such as sex trafficking, cyber and love scams, fraudulent crypto deals, and blackmail.
Remulla doubted if there was any offshore gaming going on. What the authorities uncovered were vices and supplies: liquor, sex toys, an “aquarium” of go-go girls where customers can pick their partners, and rooms for prostitution and sex trafficking.
Lawmen also discovered a room or “torture chamber” containing various torture devices such as heavy-duty tasers, airsoft guns, baseball bats, and a wooden club. There were also several handcuffs attached to a wall-mounted metal bar. One can easily imagine what sort of activities other than gambling were going on in this secret enclave days before the raid.
‘… this is not the kind of foreign investment we need.’
According to Remulla, while these POGO firms are sanctioned by the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) to operate in the Philippines, the discovery made by the operatives last Oct. 27 showed just how easily duly-licensed POGOs can convert their establishments to centers for vices.
Interior Secretary Benhur Abalos, who supervises the PNP, was surprised this is happening in Metro Manila. He ordered an investigation on the Pasay police chief and the police officers manning a nearby substation, saying it was impossible that the cops were unaware of what was going on in their area of responsibility.
Pasay police chief Col. Froilan Uy and 27 other police officers under him have been relieved from their posts by the PNP Internal Affairs Service.
PNP public information office chief Col. Jean Fajardo said legal action has been initiated against the people suspected of running the POGO hub, among them five Chinese and a Filipino. They are being held at the Camp Crame custodial facility.
This latest caper brings to the fore anew the idea of scrapping POGOs altogether, one that has been advocated in various ways and intensity by Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian, Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno, and NEDA Secretary Arsenio Balisacan. Their argument is valid — government spends a lot in terms of peace and order maintenance and fight against crime, prosecution and judicial proceedings, international image and other things, which is miniscule compared to actual revenues generated by POGOs. As Balisacan said, this is not the kind of foreign investment we need. We want factories, industries, energy production, financial projects and the like that generate real jobs. POGOs employ foreigners and just a few Filipino workers, and have become magnets for crimes such as kidnapping for ransom and even murder.
It is well to note that Secretary Remulla said that kicking out POGO firms in the country is “always on the horizon” but the government will have to wait until the permits of these firms finally end. Remulla said as long as the legal permits issued by PAGCOR are existing, we have to honor it. “But we will arrive at that stage where we will have to decide.”
The government agencies concerned in POGO operations should move as one, and in the same direction, if we are to stem the tide of crimes and corruption that accompanies this sector.
