Valenzuela City Mayor Weslie “Wes” Gatchalian said on Tuesday, June 25, that there are no Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs) in the city.
In a radio interview, Gatchalian said POGO operations have been banned in the city since last year under Ordinance No. 1105, Series of 2023.
The mayor also reiterated that all gambling operations are banned in the city.
“Ever since ho, wala pong POGO operation po sa aming lugar, pero ngayon mas diniinan na natin. Alam n'yo naman po pag POGO hindi naman natin pinag-uusapan lang 'yung gambling portion of it, kasama 'yung human trafficking, may prostitution, may money laundering (Ever since, there have been no POGO operations in our area, but now we're giving emphasizes it. You know that when it comes to POGO, we don't only tackle the gambling portion of it but also the human trafficking, prostitution, and money laundering that go with it),” Gatchalian said.
This is the reason why the city government passed city ordinances prohibiting illegal gambling activities and POGO.
Illegal gambling such as the e-sabong, e-games, e-bingo, online poker, cara y cruz, video karera, jueteng, lucky nine, tong-its, among others have also been banned in the city.
The mayor said that he had learned lessons from other cities in terms of POGO operations.
“Alam n'yo naman, with all the news at mga pangyayari po sa ibang mga cities, medyo nadala na ho ako (You know, with all the news and events happening in other cities, I learned lessons),” he said.
Gatchalian believes that it is the only way to protect the Pamilyang Valenzuelanos in the city.
“So ito po, I believe kabayan, ang tanging paraan namin na maprotektahan po ang kultura natin at family values natin dito sa loob ng ating lungsod (So, I believe this is the only way we can protect our culture and family values here in our city),” he said.