METRO MANILA: Philippine legislators are seeking to pass multiple laws to address gaps in the areas like immigration checks, foreign interference and espionage monitoring, following years of investigation into crime-ridden online casinos catering to offshore clients.
Often referred to by their acronym POGOs, Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators were ordered banned by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr in a national address in July last year, citing social costs like rising crime.
A proposed law to prevent the resurgence of such offshore gaming operations is already pending in Congress.
“I hope the year 2025 is the year we finally pass the Anti-POGO Act. We need a comprehensive law to ensure that there will no longer be POGOs that scam, hurt and deceive people,” Senator Risa Hontiveros said in a statement early this year.
In an executive order signed in November, President Marcos formalised the ban and gave the national gaming regulator until the end of 2024 to wind down operations. But lawmakers said legislation would better institutionalise the ban.
In a bill pending in Congress, lawmakers have proposed to widen the scope of the ban to include POGOs licensed by other government agencies instead of just the gambling regulator cited in the president’s executive order.
“Our proposal expanded the definition to make sure that … regardless of who issued the licence, (it) will be captured in the law,” said Senator Sherwin Gatchalian in an interview with CNA.
“There’s the risk that they (POGOs) might go underground, but I think law enforcement authorities have been very prudent about ensuring that these operations are seized before they proliferate further,” said Joseph Velasco, associate professor in the Department of Political Science and Development Studies at De La Salle University in the Philippines.
