Senator Grace Poe on Tuesday, October 11 urged the government to pave the way to cease the operations of Chinese-owned Philippine Offshore Gaming Operations (POGOs) eventually as its operators are using the country as a venue to market online gambling in a country like China where it is prohibited.
Poe said the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) should start looking for other mechanisms to generate revenues for the government and stop relying on the earnings from POGOs.
For one, Poe said these businesses are marketing something that is illegal in China, and in effect, shows how the Philippine government is disregarding China’s stand that online gambling is illegal.
“Here's the thing. Theses individuals are marketing something that is illegal in that country. For example, bawal ang gaming doon so ang mga (online gaming is illegal there so these) service provider ang trabaho nila (their job) is to go into the web, different chat communities to promote online gambling which is illegal in China,” Poe pointed out at the continuation of the Senate Ways and Means Committee’s hearing on the contribution of POGOs to the Philippine economy.
“And that's their job is to promote something illegal in a country, is to promote gambling where online gambling is illegal. So basically we are condoning them to violate their own laws, as citizens of their country,” Poe further said.
“Parang sinasabi natin okay wala namang gambling dito pero dito nagmamarket kayo ng isang bagay na iligal sa inyong bansa, di ba ganun yun (It’s like we are saying, it’s okay there is no gambling here, but you are marketing an activity that is illegal in your country, isn’t that the case)?” she said.
But Ranfred Tan, senior manager at PAGCOR responded that part of the agency’s regulations is that POGOs cannot market in jurisdictions where gambling is prohibited.
To which Poe retorted: “Oh really? But we already know for a fact that it is happening from China.
“Ganito na lang ang mga binigyan nyo ng legal na lisensya na operators dito ang sinasabi nyo Chinese naman ang kanilang mga customers na galing sa China (You gave legal licenses to oeprators since their customers are Chinese that came from China). Eh sinasabi mo (And your are saying) we are not allowing those who operate in jurisdictions that find it illegal to operate,” she pointed out.
“But you are allowing these POGOs to operate here knowing full well that their client of customers are from a country where online gambling is illegal,” Poe lamented.
Tan replied: “Your honor, the players do not necessarily come from China or not necessarily in China while playing.”
“They are not necessarily in China, pero nung tinatanong nga ni Sen. Win (Gatchalian) kanina so anong bayad sa inyo, pinakamalaking ano, puro Yuan puro China (but when Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian asked what was the form of payment, the biggest, you said, was in Yuan currency, all Chinese currency),” Poe said in response.
“So sasabihin mo Chinese sa America, or Chinese sa Europe ang naglalaro (You ssaid these are Chinese in America or Chinese in Europe are the ones playing)... You sure about that, or are you just turning a blind eye?” she asked.
“Because if you can tell us categorically hindi talagang yung sa China wala kasi bawal yan. Malaking kasinungalingan yan, so ngayon nahuli na kayo. Sinasabi ninyo hindi namin papayagan yang mga lisensyado na yan kung sila ay nag-ooperate sa mga bansang bawal yan. Alam naman natin ang pinakamalaking market nila China. So bawiin ang lisensya nila, ganun ba yun? (that they did not come from China because that is illegal. That’s a big lie and we caught you now. You are saying you cannot allow those with license if they are operating in countries that banned it. But we know that the biggest market is in China. So are you going to revoke their license, is that it)?” she quizzed PAGCOR officials.
When she asked PAGCOR officials how much is the agency’s income in 2019, the PAGCOR official said the agency got P81.9-billion
“Magkano ang bigay ng POGO (how much did you earn from POGO)?” Poe asked Tan.
To which he replied: “P5.7 billion.”
“Sus, kayang-kaya niyo yan hanapin. Yun lang po (Of course, you can easily look for that elsewhere. That’s all I can say),” Poe said.