Manila Mayor Honey Lacuna-Pangan said the city government will not allow Philippine Offshore Gaming Operations (POGO) that may have operations within the city to extend beyond the deadline given by the Malacañang palace.
The mayor is also urging POGO operators to prepare their businesses for the impending closure in the country and not to wait for the deadline to comply with the directive given by President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr.
During his state of the nation address (SONA), the president told the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) to wind down the operations of POGOs in the country by the end of the year.
The lady mayor also called on the owners of buildings who may have POGO operations as tenants to serve the due notices and make sure that they will not allow such operations to persist, as this will be declared illegal.
Manila residents who may be displaced as a result, may begin looking for another job, in the local government's Pubic Employment Service Office (PESO) headed by Fernan Bermejo which is constantly holding job fairs to help jobless Manileños.
The job offers being supervised by the city's PESO are open even to senior citizens and persons with disability (PWDs) and that some are fortunate to be hired on the spot.
Meanwhile, the mayor lauded the efforts of the Manila Police District (MPD) and the Philippine National Police Anti-Cybercrime Group (PNP-ACG) when they arrested 69 foreigners and 47 Filipinos during a recent raid at a commercial and residential establishment along Adriatico Street in Manila, which was suspected to be scam hubs.
The arrested foreigners were composed of 35 Chinese nationals, 11 Indonesians and 10 Malaysians.