Totally banning Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs) for the purpose of addressing the crimes being linked to it is like burning down the house just to kill the rat inside of it.
Thus, said Albay 2nd district Rep. Joey Salceda as he warned the government about the proposals of some lawmakers to do away with POGOs, which have been described as crime magnets.
“I think a blanket ban on a specific sector, when there are laws that already exist to prevent abuses in any kind of business, will be seen as arbitrary,” Salceda, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, said.
“That will hurt our reputation with investors not just in the gaming sector. We will be known as a country that burns down houses just to kill the rat inside,” he pointed out.
Salceda added that it would be in the best interest of government, which is in dire need of revenues to boost the pandemic-hit economy, to “keep POGO operations within POGO-specific zones that are ring-fenced from the rest of the country".
“New licenses will be in these zones, and existing licenses will be allowed only to complete their leases. Any offshore gaming that operates outside such zones will be considered illegal,” he proposed.
The calls to rid the country of POGOs stemmed from allegations that activities of foreign crime syndicates have begun to manifest locally through the involvement of foreign POGO workers here.
If the economist-solon would have his way, he said POGOs could be kept within controlled and heavily regulated spaces.
“We have a potential global advantage in that we recognize them as taxable entities, unlike other countries that consider them a gray area.”
Salceda also highlighted the economic cost or impact of a total POGO ban, in light of the substantial amount it contributes to government coffers, and the commensurate job that it generates for Filipinos.
“A sudden downturn in office occupancy at this point will kill jobs and at least P18.9 billion in rental income from offices, and P28.6 billion in housing rent. We stand to lose 70,000 Filipino jobs that are directly hired by POGOs at least,” he said.
Aside from these revenues, Salceda said POGO employees spend about P950 million daily in Philippine stores and their commissaries spend P11.4 billion annually from Filipino caterers. He added that legitimate POGOs occupy some 1.1 million square meters of office space.
“Our policy cannot be to give an entire industry up just because there are bad actors. All industries have bad actors. My stand is for the government to wield the full weight of the law,” he stressed.
“The solution to illegal POGO is not to close down all POGOs. If anything, that will only create an entire underground sector...And just like smuggling inside ecozones, the focus should be to 'fight smuggling harder, (and) not to close down all ecozones,'” he noted.
At the same time, Salceda predicts that POGO revenues are on an upward trend. “I foresee growth in government income from POGOs. I think a total tax take of at least P5 billion this year is possible, up from P1.2 billion from last year (2021).”
“It’s definitely worth keeping legal, fully-compliant companies. Whether it’s worth it is already a settled policy question: we always want legal businesses and we always hate illegal businesses. I will definitely not advocate for a position of banning an entire legal industry,” he added.