Senators renew call to ban POGOs after rescue of trafficking victims in Pasay

Senators renewed their call on Monday, Oct. 30 to ban Philippine Overseas Gaming Operators (POGOs) and create stiffer regulations in the country following a raid in Pasay City that resulted in the rescue of more than 700 individuals.

Senate Majority Leader Joel Villanueva said that it baffles him how POGOs that had their licenses cancelled were still operating. 

"The reality is that there is a high probability that this is not an isolated case. This is exactly the reason why we are pushing for the total ban of POGOs in the country," he said.

"With the proliferation of these illegal POGO operations, it is quite obvious that Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (Pagcor) needs to ramp up and do a better job of shutting down POGO operations in the country," he added.

He also emphasized that the social costs associated with gambling, especially POGOs, far outweigh their economic benefits.

Meanwhile, Senate Minority Leader Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel III stated that more action from PAGCOR was needed as well as vigilance and vigor in carrying out its functions.

"Sana ang message ng government to the Filipino people and the rest of the world ay 'hindi tayo mukhang pera' (The government's message to the Filipino and the rest of the world should be like 'we're not all for money')," he added.

Pimentel stated that the government should be able to let go of activities that give us law and order problems, attract criminals into our land, and leave us with reputational damage even if the said activities bring in money to the government’s coffers. 

"We should not even be concerned about how much the questionable activities bring in. We should look at the over-all multi-dimensional damages and harm that these questionable activities do to our society, country, and people. Both the short-term and long-term harms," he said.
 

Meanwhile, Senator Sherwin Gatchalian urgently pleaded with President Marcos for the complete and immediate banning of POGOs in the wake of a shocking revelation exposing a POGO hub’s involvement in prostitution.
 
“This is probably the worst that POGOs have ever been. It’s profoundly disturbing. What we’re witnessing here is essentially a self-contained hub for sexual exploitation and slavery,” emphasized Gatchalian.  
 
“This incident provides stark confirmation of the concerns we’ve voiced for quite some time now – that criminal activities associated with POGOs will continue to intensify unless we shut down the entire industry,” he added.  
 
According to Gatchalian, it appears that the Pagcor issued an Internet gaming license to Smart Web Technology Corporation, which is located at a six-story building along Williams Street in Pasay City, without conducting a thorough inspection. 

Philippine National Police (PNP) authorities said the company continued its operations even after Pagcor revoked its license under a different name in September this year, according to Gatchalian. He added that this demonstrates that Pagcor has been ineffective in regulating online gaming and gambling operations in the country.  
 
In an earlier bid to improve the regulation of POGOs, Pagcor has invalidated all POGO licenses as of September this year. In POGO’s place, IGLs were issued. Pagcor earlier said a complete list of IGL licensees will be released by the end of the month.
 
Gatchalian, who chairs the Senate Committee on Ways and Means, has been pressing for the expulsion of POGO operators in the country, citing rising criminal activities attributed to the industry including human trafficking, forcible abduction, homicide, illegal detention, kidnapping-for-ransom, theft, robbery-extortion, serious physical injuries, swindling, grave coercion, investment scam, cryptocurrency scam, love scam, and the most recent addition being prostitution.