Pogo exit watch: Pagcor warned; House to intensify probe

Two weeks after President Marcos ordered a ban on all Philippine offshore gaming operators (Pogos), giving them till the year-end to wind down their affairs, concerns remain over such companies being given loopholes or new disguises just to circumvent the prohibition.

In Congress, the countdown to the Pogo deadline is expected to be marked by continued scrutiny of the industry, particularly its use as a front for organized crime involving Chinese nationals and digging up cases from the Duterte administration.

At the Senate, Sen. Risa Hontiveros on Tuesday warned the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) against any attempt to “reinterpret” the President’s directive as articulated in the State of the Nation Address he delivered on July 22.

“Anything that is being appealed for during this time and those whose operations are being winded down, I would say, in principle, are covered by that Pogo ban of the President,” said Hontiveros, one of the lawmakers who had built a case against Pogos by initiating a Senate inquiry into their operations, drawing testimonies from former workers who fell victim to human trafficking, torture and forced participation in online scams.

“There should be no attempt to reinterpret the President’s very clear directive,” she said in a TV interview.

Hontiveros was reacting to a statement from Pagcor Chair Alejandro Tengco, who said there were currently 12 special business process outsourcing (SBPO) companies servicing foreign gaming entities and that should be allowed to continue operations.

In an earlier statement, Tengco said some 10,000 Filipinos are employed by these SBPOs and that Pagcor had received applications from six more companies.

He again mentioned the SPBOs during a House budget hearing on Tuesday.

Pagcor, he said, is still studying how to spare the operations these 12 special BPOs which are not connected to POGOs but serve offshore gaming taking place in other countries.

Explaining SBPOs functions, he said: There is no bettor being taken by these companies. These are the same as normal BPOs in the country…basically they’re like backroom operations for gaming companies abroad and Manila is the one that answers questions (from customers) like ‘Why didn’t my bet money go through?’. Stuff like that.”

“It would be a big thing if we could spare them as it would mean 10,000 jobs saved,” Tengco told members of the House committee on appropriations. “Mr. Marcos told us to carefully study that.”

But Hontiveros reminded Tengco of Solicitor General Menardo Guevarra earlier statement that Mr. Marcos’ instruction to ban Pogo was “unequivocal.”

She recalled that during a Senate hearing on July 29, a week after the Sona, the Pagcor chair actually echoed Guevarra’s view.

“It’s a good thing Tengco did not mention that (giving exception to the SBPOs) during our hearing because I would have also taken issue with that,” Hontiveros said.

All Pogos should cease to exist by year’s end and Pagcor can expedite the process by revoking even the granted to 43 facilities now known as “internet gaming licensees” (IGLs).

There is also “no need to wait for a law to be passed against Pogos,” she said “Pagcor may just cancel the licenses it issued without exception. That should fulfill the President’s order.”

At a House on Tuesday, Tengco said he was focused on winding down the operations of the remaining 42 IGLs.

Tengco recalled that upon assuming the Pagcore chairmanship in 2022, he tried to overhaul the industry by coming up with new regulatory standards for offshore gaming and rebranding Pogos as IGLs.

This resulted in more than 290 Pogos losing their licenses, he stressed.

As of Aug. 6, he said, there were only 42 remaining “legal Pogos” left “and it is of my belief that up to the time that the president announced the ban, the 42 legal operators were doing legitimate business and it was giving the government coffers revenue and providing employment to hundreds of thousands of people, indirectly or directly.”

These 42 companies, he said, were expected to contribute some P6 billion to the agency’s coffers, out of the total revenue of P101 billion that Pagcor expects in 2024. The projection also includes P42 billion expected from integrated resorts and P45 billion from electronic gaming.

“But the mandate today, the instruction of the President, is to wind down the operations for all until the end of the year,” he said.

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“But who knows, maybe later on, we can study and see if it’s possible to have a sort of upgraded version,” he added.

Tengco’s statement on remark on the possible future for Pogos was in response to a question from Northern Samar Rep. Paul Daza, who asked whether it was “within Pagcor’s mandate to create a better version of POGO that is (a) level up and, taking off from lessons from our experience, come up with a better version that could help the economy.”

“I would encourage you to do that because I think this is a golden opportunity for the Philippines,” Daza said. “But the industry as we know for many reasons just gave it a bad name.”

Tengco said Pacgor would have a “masterplan” for the Pogo closures ready by September and that it would work closely with the Department of Labor and Employment as well as the Department of the Interior and Local Government to ensure its full implementation.

Consolidated House probe

Also at the House, a proposal was made to form a four-committee body that would consolidate all ongoing inquiries into Pogos and the criminal activities that had tainted the industry, particularly during the Duterte administration.

At present, three separate House investigations on the matter are ongoing, conducted by the committee on dangerous drugs, on public order and safety, and on human rights.

In a privilege speech on Monday, Pampanga Rep. Aurelio Gonzales pushed for the consolidation, noting that the inquiries had been tackling “issues that are interwoven, entailing scrutiny into intricate details…[and] have shown an overlap or commonalities on individuals or resource persons that may be invited in the hearings.”

Gonzales, who is the House senior deputy speaker, added: “The complex yet interrelated nature of the issues surrounding public order, dangerous drugs, and human rights violations demonstrates the unique benefits of a collaborative approach that only a joint investigation can provide. A joint investigation will enable us to conduct a more inclusive and thorough examination of these interlocking issues,” the House leader said.

“It will allow us to invite resource persons who can provide valuable insights across multiple areas of concern. This coordinated effort will ensure that our findings are comprehensive and that our legislative recommendations are practical and encompassing,” he said.