Six months ago, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. outlawed offshore gaming operations known as POGOs, which had been linked to crimes including kidnapping, human trafficking, prostitution and murder.
Marcos ordered operations to cease immediately, and gave them until Dec. 31 to phase out completely. Presently, only 17 POGOs remain, down from a high of almost 300 in 2019, says the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (PAGCOR), the state-owned regulator.
“You can expect that there will be no more licensed POGOs operating by the end of this year,” PAGCOR chairman and CEO Alejandro Tengco said in comments reported by the Manila Times.
But Secretary Jonvic Remulla of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) warns against complacency. “We are mounting guerrilla operations because some Filipinos have learned to set up their own POGO firms,” he said.
POGOs were introduced under former president Rodrigo Duterte, and over time became infiltrated by Chinese organized crime, serving as fronts for online scams. They resorted to trafficking and kidnapping to fill their boiler rooms, and subjected some workers to abuse and torture. POGOs are also suspected of conspiring with Philippine officials to continue their dirty work.
An editorial in the Philippine Inquirer said “failures of governance made the rise of POGOs possible.”
The quad committee of the House of Representatives will recommend charges against 10 retired and active government officials for their alleged involvement in POGOs as well as “extrajudicial killings” (EJKs) and illegal drugs, according to committee chairman and Surigao del Norte representative Robert Ace Barbers.
