House Speaker Martin Romualdez (left), President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. (Facebook)

Speaker Martin Romualdez has directed the House of Representatives to ensure the swift approval of a measure that would give flesh to President Marcos' declaration of a total ban on Philippine Offshore Gaming Operations (POGO). 

“Immediately after the SONA of President Marcos, Jr., I met with House leaders and top secretariat officials last night in my office. I asked them to come up with a proposed legislative measure that will put to a halt all POGO operations in the country effective December 2024 as ordered by the President,” Romualdez said in a statement Tuesday, July 23. 

Marcos announced the ban in his State of the Nation Address (SONA) Monday, July 22 to a standing ovation. 

Romualdez, at the same time, gave instructions to continue the ongoing congressional investigation on the operation of criminal syndicates responsible for illegal activities linked to POGO in order to unmask their modus operandi and their masterminds. 

“This, however, will not stop ongoing House investigation on the criminal and other illegal activities linked to POGO. Hopefully, the House can learn from the hearings— on their modus operandi and the brains behind these activities— as part of inputs for the proposed measure that we will be crafting,” the House leader stressed. 

Incidentally, the House Committees on Public Order and Safety and on Games and Amusements resumed its probe on POGO Tuesday. The probe was begun roughly a week before the SONA. 

Romualdez was informed by secretariat officials that there were several House bills and resolutions now pending before the joint panel concerning the operations of POGO. 

The Speaker says these measures should be harmonized and should result in the filing of a substitute bill that is acceptable to all stakeholders who participated in the committee hearings. 

“I am requesting all the Committee chairs concerned to give this a priority. For the House Committtee on Public Order and Security to submit their comprehensive report and recommendations to the Committee on Games and Amusement as soon as possible. And for the House Commitee on Games and Amusement to come up with a committee report for immediate plenary deliberation,” Romualdez said. 

“I want all bases in the total POGO ban covered in the proposed measure. We have to ensure that the POGO operators will not just resort to guerrilla operators or go under cover. The law must be crafted with iron-clad provisions to prevent a resurrection of these criminal and illegal activities,” he stressed.


'Evil' POGOs 

Cagayan de Oro City 2nd district Rep. Rufus Rodriguez lauded President Marcos for outlawing POGOs. 

“We in the House of Representatives have been calling for the closure of POGOs, whether legal or illegal, because of the evil they have caused not only in the areas where they operate but in other communities. We thank the President for finally heeding our call,” said Rodriguez, chairman of the House Committee on Constitutional Amendments. 

“We made the proposal long before the authorities exposed various criminal activities associated with POGOs raided in Bamban, Tarlac and Porac, Pampanga, including money laundering and human trafficking,” he said 

He added that like those in Bamban and Porac, most POGO businesses are owned and run by Chinese nationals who employ their own compatriots. 

Rodriguez pointed out that many of these Chinese are the brains or are members of criminal syndicates that victimize not only other Chinese nationals but other foreigners and Filipinos as well. 

“They are engaged in kidnap-for-ransom. They prey on their own compatriots,” he said. 

Courageous 

For his part, Deputy Speaker Quezon 2nd district Rep. David “Jay-jay” Suarez commended Chief Executive for his courage in dealing with the POGO issue. 

“The President’s courageous move to ban POGOs addresses the social and economic issues brought about by these operations,” Suarez noted. 

“We commend the President for his foresight in instructing Pagcor (Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation) to oversee this process and DOLE (Department of Labor and Employment) to ensure that displaced workers are provided with alternative employment opportunities,” he added.

Illegal gaming websites 

Camarines Sur 2nd district Rep. LRay Villafuerte, majority leader of the powerful Commission on Appointments (CA), said the President’s directive for a POGO phaseout was "timely". 

Like Suarez, he also lauded the President’s order for Pagcor, DOLE, and other relevant government agencies to work on an employment program for Filipino workers in POGOs—now called Internet Gaming Licensees or IGLs—who will be displaced because of the ban. 

Villafuerte had previously complained to the Department of Information Technology and Communications (DICT) about the operations of illegal gaming websites. He even asked the agency to report what it has done so far with regard to the commitment two years ago by DICT Secretary Ivan John Uy to close down such sites and prosecute their operators.