Risa: President should consider suspending all online gaming
- Sen. Risa Hontiveros called for the suspension of all online casino activities following reports that some former workers of the now-banned Pogos have continued working for “reinvented” internet gambling firms.
- BI acknowledged the challenges law enforcers face in tracking the estimated 11,000 former Pogo workers down, as many have split into smaller groups and relocated to condominiums and residential areas to evade arrest.
- Some Pogo operations have morphed into smaller, guerrilla-like operations, with a new modus. One such scheme was to dupe Filipinos into joining free trips to Thailand, Cambodia and other neighboring Southeast Asian countries, but ended up being forced to work in scam hubs in Cambodia.
Sen. Risa Hontiveros on Wednesday called on the Marcos administration to suspend all online casino activities following reports that some former workers of the now-banned Philippine offshore gaming operators (Pogos) have continued working for “reinvented” internet gambling firms.
Around 11,000 foreign nationals, per the Bureau of Immigration (BI), have remained in the country with the government targeting to deport majority, if not all of them, by midyear.
“If the law enforcers could not catch up in stamping out Pogos and if there are still dangerous openings or loopholes in (President Marcos’) executive order, I think a moratorium would be a very good option for (Malacañang) to consider,” Hontiveros said at the Kapihan sa Senado news forum.
She was referring to Executive Order No. 74, which the President had signed in November last year to shut down all Pogos and other similar establishments by Dec. 31, 2024.
Hontiveros, who had initiated the Senate inquiry into Pogo-related crimes, underscored the need to pass a law that would completely prohibit this gaming industry that flourished during the Duterte administration.
“While law enforcement operations were being carried out continuously, obviously these are not enough,” she said, noting the recent raids conducted by the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission and the National Bureau of Investigation.
Challenges in crackdown
BI spokesperson Dana Sandoval acknowledged the challenges law enforcers face in tracking the estimated 11,000 former Pogo workers down.
She noted that many have split into smaller groups and relocated to condominiums and residential areas to evade arrest, with Metro Manila remaining a primary hot spot for these activities.
“However, we are also receiving reports of smaller operations emerging in some provinces, which we are currently assessing and monitoring,” Sandoval said in a press briefing.
“We are not ruling out the strong possibility that they are already expanding or moving beyond the metro to extend their operations,” she added.
Hontiveros, for her part, pointed out that Mr. Marcos’ order “excludes online games of chance conducted in Pagcor-operated casinos, licensed casinos, and junket agreements.”
“This should be a wake-up call and to serve notice to Pagcor that they must not let these ‘reinvented Pogos’ find a space in casinos and those with junket agreements under its jurisdiction,” she said.
Hontiveros added that many Pogo bosses, financiers and employees, most of whom were Chinese nationals, were still in the country.
New modus
“They oversee how Pogo operations morph into smaller, guerrilla-like operations. They have also come up with a new modus,” she said.
One such scheme, she noted, was to dupe Filipinos into joining free foreign trips to Thailand, Cambodia and other neighboring Southeast Asian countries.
She said those who had participated in the supposed travel promos ended up being forced to work in scam hubs in Cambodia.
Hontiveros said at least 12 Filipinos who had fallen victim to such modus were still waiting to be repatriated from Myanmar.
“One of them was even raped by their Chinese boss,” she said.
She also warned against the resurgence of scam text messages, which had suddenly dropped when the President announced the Pogo ban during his third State of the Nation Address in July last year.
“It’s really very worrying,” she said. “This is an indication that the reinvented Pogos have found a secure footing.”
98 deported
Immigration Commissioner Joel Anthony Viado said on Wednesday that authorities have apprehended more than 500 foreign nationals linked to illegal Pogo activities in operations across Parañaque, Cavite and Pasay City since the nationwide ban was implemented on Jan. 1.
On Tuesday evening, a total of 98 Chinese nationals who were caught working for an illegal Pogo company last month were deported via a Philippine Airlines chartered flight to Xi’an, China.
“Of the 98 deportees, 91 were among the 450 arrested during a major operation in Parañaque City last January, while seven others were from our detention facility in Pico,” Viado said, noting that the deportation was coordinated with the Chinese Embassy to expedite the removal of foreign nationals.
Beijing’s commitment
In a statement on Wednesday, Beijing reiterated its commitment to cracking down on gambling and related crimes, saying it would continue to work with Manila to combat these criminal activities.
“In the meantime, we also call on the Philippines to conduct law enforcement in a just manner and ensure the legitimate and lawful rights and interests of Chinese nationals in the Philippines,” the Chinese Embassy in Manila said.
The latest mass deportation brings the total number of deportees to 226—almost half of the 500 foreign nationals arrested in the past eight weeks as part of law enforcement’s intensified campaign against illegal Pogos.
