Palace: No need for Marcos to order seizure of Pogo assets
Malacañang said on Tuesday that President Marcos Jr. does not need to issue a directive for the seizure of abandoned assets after the total closure of Philippine offshore gaming operators (Pogo) at the end of the year.
Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin said rules are already in place allowing the government to forfeit assets declared to have been used in criminal activities.
He (President Marcos) does not need to issue a directive. It’s already a given that they (assets) will be forfeited if they were involved in a crime,” he said.
Bersamin made the clarification a day after authorities shut down the Island Cove, a 30-hectare Pogo facility in Kawit, Cavite, which is the country’s biggest offshore gaming hub.
According to Bersamin, Malacañang is “doing everything” to speed up the seizure of the Pogo assets, two weeks before the Dec. 31 deadline set by the President.
“Except that we have to give due process to whoever claims to be the owner of these assets,” he said, adding that the government cannot just take over the properties.
“But we have already in place existing rules and regulations about forfeiture,” said Bersamin, a former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.
He said the government intends to use the confiscated assets for any legitimate purpose, appropriate to the nature of the properties.
‘Everything is closed’
Also on Tuesday, Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla padlocked a Philippine offshore gaming operator (Pogo) hub operating at Island Cove , a property his family used to own and dubbed as the biggest Pogo hub in the country.
Remulla was accompanied by Philippine National Police chief General Rommel Marbil and Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission Executive Director Gilbert Cruz.
Remulla, who was appointed to his Cabinet post last October, pledged to close the property in person before yearend, the deadline established by President Marcos to shut down all Philippine-based offshore gambling firms.
The Pogo hub officially stopped operating on Nov. 30.
“As promised, we said that in December, we will come here to see to it that everything is closed, that the orders of the President to close all Pogos are followed,” Remulla told reporters.
Island Cove is owned by businessman Kim Wong and was identified by the PAOCC. The 36-hectare area has 57 buildings and 15,000 workers.
President Marcos announced the ban on Pogos during his State of the Nation Address in July, citing their involvement in criminal activities. Executive Order No. 74 was issued last month to implement the ban.
Early this year, Remulla denied rumors that his family had any existing ties to Island Cove and its massive Pogo operations.
He also offered a P10 million reward to anyone who could prove their supposed links to the Pogo establishment in the former resort, including allegations that it was being protected by the Department of Justice headed by his brother, Sec. Jesus Crispin, or members of his family.
