Senator Sherwin Gatchalian on Tuesday, March 28, urged local government units (LGUs) to make a stand against Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO).
Gatchalian, chairman of the Senate Committee on Ways and Means, noted that certain LGUS, especially those considered hubs of POGOs, have started to recognize the implications of allowing POGO operations in their respective jurisdictions. Such LGUs include Manila, Pasay and Parañaque.
As the chairperson of the Senate ways and means panel, which conducted an inquiry into the social and economic costs of maintaining POGO operations in the country, the senator recommended the immediate ban of the POGO industry in the country.
“Once crime happens in your jurisdiction, it’s the mayor’s responsibility and the local chief of police’s responsibility,” Gatchalian said in a statement.
“So, it becomes a local issue and it becomes the problem of the community,” he pointed out.
Pasig City was the first LGU to approve an ordinance banning POGOs after recognizing that the social costs of POGO operations outweigh the benefits derived from them, the lawmaker noted.
“What we should strive for is a peaceful and orderly society, a country that we can invite our friends and tourists from abroad to come to,” he said.
“They will not come here if they read in the reports that people are being illegally detained,” he noted.
Gatchalian explained that organizations capable of kidnapping and illegally detaining people are not legitimate businesses but criminal syndicates.
“Only criminal syndicates can illegally detain people and that creates an environment that is not stable for all of us. I’m afraid that if we do not stop this, it will cascade to enforcers, and one day, we will have a difficult time mobilizing enforcers as well because they are already taken hold by these criminal operations,” he added.
Gatchalian said it is imperative for the government not to attract investors that bring crimes.
“Parang kumakapit tayo sa patalim (It’s like we’re clinging to a knife). There are legitimate investors who can bring in capital investments, and increase jobs,” he emphasized.
In the case of POGOs, he said 90 percent of their employees are foreign nationals and only 10 percent are Filipinos.
“We are not creating value for our own citizens,” he lamented.