CHINA is as communist a nation as communist countries go, at least on the issue of gambling. The socialist system is adverse to gambling as it is to the exploitation of labor and profit motive.
Gambling is prohibited in China although the Chinese, as a people, are believers of good luck and bad luck — the very idea that underpins all gambling activities. Thus, China pushes its inveterate gamblers to the autonomous regions of Macao, which is haven to the casinos, and Hong Kong, where all forms of gambling are also banned, except for the culture-ingrained horse racing.
‘One reason for these changes is the continuing controversy on the hiring of foreign workers by IGLs, and the national security implications of having so many foreigners (read that as Chinese) in our cities and towns.’
This isn’t apocryphal, this is true. When Chinese President Xi Jinping met with Hun Sen in Beijing, he requested the Cambodian leader to stop the operation of offshore gaming in Cambodia. To this, Hun Sen said yes, and complied.
Next, President Xi met with then Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte and made the same request: Please stop all POGO operations in the Philippines. It is bad because Chinese money is being squandered for non-productive uses abroad. Duterte said he’ll think about it, and proceeded to deny Xi Jinping’s request. Now, who says Digong is China’s stooge?
The latest news on POGO is that this non-productive economic activity that produces no commodity at all but allows the transfer of large amounts of money through the Internet has a new name. It is no longer Philippine offshore gaming operator. It now answers to the nomenclature IGL — internet gaming licensees.
PAGCOR chairman and CEO Alejandro Tengco has announced this change of name and acronym in an exclusive interview with global gaming industry publication Inside Asian Gaming at the Global Gaming Expo summit in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The question begs to be asked: Why did Duterte reject the well-meaning and valid request of President Xi? And when President Bongbong Marcos took over the helm of PH government, why did he retain POGOs, even against the advice of his finance secretary (Benjamin Diokno) and NEDA director general (Arsenio Balisacan)?
The answer might be money. The revenues the government through PAGCOR is receiving from the POGO business. But it looks like this income is dwindling. Earlier, PAGCOR said that offshore gaming operations brought in P3.15 billion in 2023, or just 4.31 percent of their total gaming revenues of P79.37 billion in that year.
Gaming’s record high revenues usually reach P285.27 billion a year, with POGOs contributing a huge chunk of this number.
PAGCOR is now beefing up the list of legal and legitimate POGOs or IGLs, which is its way of cooperating and supporting the initiative of law enforcement agencies such as the CIDG and the PAOCC to close illegal and criminal establishments using POGOs as front.
In a listing issued last week, PAGCOR said it released the licenses of 40 regular IGLs and nine provisional IGLs. Last August, the gaming regulator announced that all POGOs will be required to reapply for licenses that will involve having to comply with revised regulations for offshore gaming operators — the Internet Gaming Licensing Regulations that took effect on July 12, 2023.
One reason for these changes is the continuing controversy on the hiring of foreign workers by IGLs, and the national security implications of having so many foreigners (read that as Chinese) in our cities and towns.
