Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (Pagcor) Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Alejandro Tengco said on Wednesday, July 10 that more or less 250,000 Filipinos are at risk of losing their jobs should there be a total ban on Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs).

"Ang sinasabi ko lang po directly at indirectly mayroon pong humigit-kumulang sa paniwala po namin 250,000 Pilipino ang mawawalan ng hanapbuhay ng biglaan (What I'm saying is directly or indirectly, there are more or less 250,000 will suddenly lose their jobs)," Tengco said during the continuation of the Senate Women and Children’s panel on POGO-related crimes.

He also mentioned that the government stands to lose billions worth of taxes.

“Nakakahinayang din yung mahigit kumulang pag kinompute po natin sa pangkasalukuyan na P22 bilyon o P23 bilyong pisong maaaring maging buwis din para sa taong 2024 (It seems regrettable to lose, based on our computation, P22 billion or P23 billion in taxes for 2024),” he stated.

Yet, Tengco said that if the President, the House, and the Senate would decide to totally ban POGOs, it's not something that they will go against.

However, he expressed concern that the illegal activities would continue even if they were outrightly banned.

“But ang akin lang po ay sana masubaybayan din ito ng mga awtoridad dahil kung isasara po natin ito at magpapatuloy pa rin po yung ilegal na gawain nila balewala po yung dahilan kung bakit natin isinara ito (For me, I hope the authorities would continue to monitor them because if we shut them down and their illegal activities continue, then the reason for closing them was nothing),” Tengco said.

He also pointed out how they've done much to cleanse and regulate POGOs to keep them in line.

“We are of the belief…ang pamunuan ng PAGCOR ginagawa po namin ang lahat ng magagawa namin, nag umpisa po sa 298 ngayon po ay 46 para patunayan lang na mino-monitor at strikto ang ipinatutupad na mga alituntunin (We are of the belief...us here in Pagcor have done everything we can, we started from 298 now there's only 46 to prove that we're strictly monitoring and following the proper guidelines),” he said.

When asked by Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian if he can ensure that POGOs will no longer be involved in criminal activities, Tengco said that while he cannot assure this, he mentioned that they plan to put up 24/7 teams to monitor them.

"Hopefully that can deter, hopefully kung may napansin kami kaagad, takbo na kami sa kapulisan para malaman (Hopefully that can deter, hopefully if we notice something early on, we can go to the police)," he said.

"Mahirap ko pong sabihin sa bulwagang ito at sa harapang ito na eto na po ang huli dahil sabi niyo nga'y kung may criminal intent talaga yung natitira pa eh baka hindi ko na po talaga kayanin yung pagmonitor doon (It's hard for me to say here that this will be the last time because like you said, if there's criminal intent in those that are remaining, then it would be hard for me to monitor them)," he added.