AT the height of their operations last year, the Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO) wielded some influence in the business and labor sectors of the nation. The POGO offices in Metro Manila helped resuscitate the sleepy real estate market, with thousands of foreign workers opting to rent condominiums, apartment buildings, and offices in the metropolis. Several hundreds of jobless Filipinos were given quite well-paying jobs, and the foreign gaming firms did their part in paying taxes and enhancing economic activities.
It used to be that the National Capital Region hosted the highest number of POGOs, with Makati having 27, Pasay 12, Manila 4, and two each in Las Piñas, Mandaluyong, Parañaque, and Quezon City. These are the legal firms with licenses issued by the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (PAGCOR). The illegal POGOs which were involved in all sorts of scams and illegal activities were in the provinces, mostly in Central Luzon.
While strictly regulated by the government, POGOs have become centers of social ills such as crime, poverty and psychological stress, and foreigners employed by these firms find it hard working in a foreign land with totally different culture and traditions. While POGOs contribute some P8 billion to P10 billion to the economy every year, these are paltry sums considering their social cost in the form of poverty, and crimes such as robbery, kidnapping and murder, etc.
One of President Bongbong Marcos’ more popular decisions is banning the POGOs starting last Dec. 31, 2024. The phaseout of these establishments is under way, albeit somewhat slowly.
While the ban has been implemented by authorities, some remnants or holdouts of these gaming operators have relocated to the provinces and continued their operations underground.
With the official absence of POGOs, the gambling void appears to be filled by the Philippine Inland Gaming Operators (PIGOs) which are duly licensed by PAGCOR. While foreigners based abroad are the customers of POGOs, their local clone called PIGOs are being patronized by Filipinos from all walks of life. Since it is another form of gambling using the internet, bettors engage in these games with ease, abetting further mass poverty.
It was Sen. Raffy Tulfo who first criticized PAGCOR on the issue of PIGOs at the Senate games and amusement committee hearing on Feb.13. Since all gambling is supposed to be supervised by PAGCOR, Tulfo’s criticisms were directed at them.
Senate President Francis Escudero noted last week that in “POGOs, foreigners are gambling there — foreigners are ruining their families, addicted to gambling, losing money because of gambling. We banned them, but we allowed the PIGO where the gamblers are Filipinos, not foreigners.”
“The ones losing and running out of money are Filipinos and not foreigners, and it is likely that former POGOs are hiding behind PIGOs,” he added.
Escudero urged PAGCOR to conduct an in-depth and transparent review of PIGOs to determine the economic benefits, as well as provide the public with a clear picture of the risks of gambling online.
“Can we get the data from PAGCOR? Can we get the data from any relevant government agency, including the BIR? How much do we get here? And like the questions we ask in relation to POGO, is it worth it?” he added.
These two senators are on the right track in questioning the relevance and reason for being of online gambling that victimizes ordinary Filipinos.
