IT was a master stroke in public relations when President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. proudly announced in his State of the Nation Address before Congress last July that he had ordered the total ban on Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs).
At that time, these gaming companies although duly licensed by the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) were vilified for causing more harm than good to the national economy. Through machinations of both foreign and Filipino operators, POGOs have been involved in various online shenanigans such as financial and love scams, questionable transactions, and regular criminal offenses like kidnapping, torture, illegal detention, homicide and murder.
Economic managers of both the Duterte and Marcos administrations have pointed out that the disadvantages brought by POGOs greatly outweigh whatever government revenues they contribute to the official coffers. The various raids conducted by the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) on offshore gaming operators in Bamban, Tarlac and Porac, Pampanga further opened a can of worms and provided incontrovertible proof that indeed, serious and heinous crimes are being committed with impunity behind those high walls of POGO establishments.
The PAOCC initiative also uncovered a string of illegal activities going on in the local civil registries of towns and cities, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), the Department of Foreign Affairs, the Bureau of Immigration, and other vital government offices which have something to do with foreigners entering and staying in the country.
Going by the loud applause that people gave to President Bongbong’s announcement of phasing out all POGOs by Dec. 31, 2024, the people have unconditionally supported the President’s decision.
While all along we thought that POGOs were concerned only with foreign bettors and gaming operators, aside from local and national government officials who are in cahoots with them, it is good to note that we ordinary Filipinos have also been benefited by the demise of the POGO industry.
At the recent workshop called “Government Digitalization Cooperation: A Collaboration in Developing Capacity-Building,” Information and Communications Undersecretary for e-Government David Almirol Jr. reported a significant decrease in text scam incidents, particularly as the December 31 deadline set by Marcos Jr. nears.
Almirol said that their department used to receive a deluge of complaints from the public about financial and other scams perpetrated by unknown persons through cellphones and computers, but this has considerably slowed down during the past few days.
“Malaki ang pagbabago talaga. Sobrang laki. Dati inuulan kami ng mga tawag eh sa aming e-report. Pero ngayon, declining talaga yung report talaga ng text scam ngayon. Sobrang declining (There has been a significant change. Before, we were being deluged with calls in our e-report. But now, reports on text scams are really declining),” Almirol said.
This phenomenon — the decline of text-and-call scams and other online con games being offered to the public — is proof that POGOs were being used to trick and steal money from ordinary Filipinos.
Shutting the door on these gaming and conning syndicates is not only a desirable action by the government. More importantly, it is the fulfillment of the government’s constitutional mandate to protect the people.
