PH to be POGO-free by 2025, gov’t bracing for influx of rogue ops

FILE: FOREIGN POGO WORKERS. More than 40 foreigners reportedly forced to work for an illegal Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (POGO) in Angeles City, Pampanga are rescued on Sept. 17, 2022. The Department of Justice on Thursday (August 1, 2024) assured that the government is committed to an orderly phaseout of the POGO industry, including the organized repatriation of its foreign workers, following President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s directive to ban all POGOS. (Photo: Police Regional Office 3/Facebook)

By Darryl John Esguerra, Philippine News Agency

MANILA – The Philippines will be free of Philippine offshore gaming operations (POGOs) by 2025 as President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s total ban takes effect, but the government is preparing for the possible rise of “guerrilla operations.”

“All licenses are cancelled, so POGO-free tayo (we are POGO-free). Guerrilla operations will flourish but we will go after them,” Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla said in a Palace press briefing Wednesday.

In July, Marcos responded to mounting calls to ban POGOs, which had been linked to serious issues, including human trafficking, prostitution, and murder, and ordered a halt to operations immediately, with a complete phase-out scheduled by Dec. 31.

According to Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (PAGCOR) chairperson Alejandro Tengco, only seven licensed POGOs remain, down from 60 in mid-2024, when the President first announced the ban.

The remaining operations are working to meet the deadline.

“Wala naman pong pasaway sa ating mga licensees. Sila po ay cooperating both with PAGCOR and the Bureau of Immigration (BI) (All our licensees are following the process. They are cooperating both with PAGCOR and the BI) and also DOLE (Department of Labor and Employment),” Tengco said in the same presser.

Meanwhile, Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOOC) Executive Director Gilbert Cruz warned that some former POGO workers could attempt to establish underground operations.

“Those who will dare to operate ng (on) January, huhulihin na ‘yan (they will be arrested),” Cruz said, adding that law enforcement agencies will soon meet to map out the plan in weeding out rogue POGOs.

Marcos met with Remulla, Tengco, and Cruz in Malacañang Wednesday morning for the winding down of POGOs.

The President ordered them to ensure that illegal POGOs will not be able to operate anymore in the country.

“Sa aming estima, madali silang mahanap, madali silang pigilin (The way we see it, they are easy to detect, and they are easy to stop). [According] to the President’s instruction, we will make it very difficult for them until they say ‘it is not worth operating in the Philippines’,” Remulla said.

Remulla also announced plans to issue an order requiring local chief executives to immediately report any suspicious activities related to POGOs in their areas.