Pagcor open to stopping POGOs

4,000 POGO workers have same TINs

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. is open to shutting down Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGOs) even at the expense of losing revenues from the growing industry, a top Pagcor official said.

In an interview with “The Chiefs” aired Monday night on Cignal TV’s One News, Pagcor assistant vice president for offshore gaming licensing Jose Tria said the gaming regulator would consider putting a stop to offshore gaming operations should it prove too challenging to regulate the industry.

“We at Pagcor, we are not advocates for the continuance. For us, we’re just studying it. Then, if we realize that the industry really cannot be regulated by Pagcor and other agencies, we will put a stop to POGOs,” Tria said when asked if the gaming firm was open to shutting down the offshore gaming operators.

Some lawmakers have called for the suspension of POGO activities until all issues plaguing the industry are fixed, including an increase in criminal activities and higher risk to money laundering.

About 11 percent of Pagcor’s total income is derived from online casinos, he said.

The regulator’s gross gaming revenues amounted to P75.75 billion last year, up 11.65 percent from P67.85 billion in 2018.

Tria, however, said the Philippines could lose opportunities to raise more funds in the future should it ban offshore gaming firms from conducting business in the country.

“We see that gaming will eventually migrate, majority, to online. So we are also thinking about the future. Maybe it only comprises 11 percent of our income now, but in the future it might amount to 50 percent or more than 50 percent. So it would be a big loss in the future if the gaming industry indeed shifts to
 online,” Tria said.

He said Pagcor may also consider requiring these companies to move into the hubs, should it be too challenging for authorities to control the crimes that come with the increase of foreign workers in the POGO industry.

Tria said the gaming regulator would also be open to proposals from Congress to impose additional taxes on offshore gaming operations.

4,000 identical TINs

In the same program, it was revealed that about 4,000 foreigners employed in POGO firms have identical government-issued Tax Identification Numbers (TINs).

Labor Assistant Secretary Dominique Tutay said the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) discovered the identical TINs during cross-checking of records of POGO workers applying for an alien employment permit (AEP).

The TIN issued by the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) is a pre-requisite for foreigners applying for an AEP. A TIN is required to ensure that they would pay their taxes to the Philippine government while working in the country.

Tutay said the BIR referred to the identical TINs recorded between December 2019 and January 2020 as “errors” resulting from a technical glitch in its system.

“The BIR is already addressing the issue,” she told The Chiefs.

DOLE crackdown

Tutay said the DOLE has intensified inspections of POGO companies nationwide in a bid to identify Chinese and other foreign nationals illegally working in the country.

A total of 500 additional labor inspectors have been deployed this year for this purpose. “The labor secretary has given authority to those labor inspectors to inspect establishments,” she said.

However, she admitted that the DOLE is powerless in shutting down erring POGO firms. “While we have power to issue working permits, DOLE is toothless when it comes to closing down POGOs even with violations,” she said.

Apart from providing information on irregularities to concerned agencies, the DOLE can only impose a P10,000 fine on a foreigner without a working permit and another P10,000 fine on a company illegally employing foreign nationals, Tutay explained.

The DOLE’s role in deporting an illegal foreign worker is only recommendatory to the Bureau of Immigration (BI), she said.

Meanwhile, POGO workers involved in crimes are answerable to the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), she added.

Tutay said the DOLE submits to Pagcor the findings of labor inspectors so that proper action can be taken against POGOs with violations.

On the other hand, the BIR has the power to shut down a POGO for not paying proper taxes, she said.

“That is why Labor Secretary (Silvestre) Bello wants that DOLE be given power (by Congress) to close down establishments employing illegal foreign nationals,” Tutay said.

Working with China

Tutay said the DOLE is supporting the Chinese government’s crackdown against POGO workers.

“Recently, we have the police attaché of China engaging with us. Precisely, they want our help in the crackdown against illegal Chinese nationals who are here in the country,” she revealed.

Tutay said the DOLE will be sharing information with other government agencies on foreign nationals illegally working in the Philippines.

“There is a database of Chinese nationals with criminal records and the names will be cross-checked,” she said, adding that DOLE will revoke working permits issued to these undesireable aliens.

Tutay noted that in 2019, DOLE issued more than 143,000 AEPs to POGO-related workers, 80 percent of whom are Chinese nationals.

POGOs and espionage

Yesterday, the Department of Justice (DOJ) kept mum on whether or not the NBI was investigating POGOs for espionage by China.

Sen. Richard Gordon had raised concerns that POGOs can be used by China to imbed spies and gather intelligence information about the country. 

“Everything is possible in espionage,” said Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra. “And it’s neither discussed openly nor investigated by law enforcement agents. Discreet counter-intelligence operation is the usual way to deal with it.”

He brushed off questions on whether the NBI was looking into Gordon’s concerns that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) might have infiltrated POGOs in order to gather sensitive information about the country.

Recently, PLA ID cards had surfaced with suspects arrested for crimes in Makati City, but the police later said the IDs were fake. 

Money laundering

On Gordon’s suspicion that POGOs have become fronts for money laundering, the Bureau of Customs (BOC) proposed yesterday that all incoming passengers be required to declare the number of times they entered the country with cash of more than the $10,000 equivalent foreign currency allowed under the law.

Customs Associate Commissioner Vincent Philip Maronilla said the BOC is contemplating on asking more details from arriving passengers in either the customs declaration form or the foreign currency declaration form.

“We would require the passengers to indicate how many times they have traveled wherein they carried with them foreign currency that is in excess of the $10,000; how much was the excess amount, and the source,” Maronilla said.

He said the information would be good for profiling purposes so that the BOC has a list of passengers who may be investigated by the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC).

“We do not have records (on the passengers) on the frequency of their travels to the Philippines,” said Maronilla, who explained that the BOC only keeps track of passengers’ cargo and baggage, not their travel, which the BI records.

“But we have been coordinating with the Bureau of Immigration and we are reviewing all our memoranda of agreement,” he said.

$370 M sneaked in

Earlier, the BOC reported to the Department of Finance (DOF) that $370 million (around P18.74 billion) was sneaked into the country by two syndicates last year.

Citing data from the BOC’s Intelligence Group, the DOF said the amount was sneaked into the country by the “Rodriguez” and “Chinese” groups.

Guerrero said backtracking and monitoring activities showed that the Rodriguez group smuggled $200.24 million or P10.18 billion through the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).

The Chinese group, on the other hand, brought in $167.97 million, or about P8.54 billion.

Customs Commissioner Leonardo Guerrero added that the Rodriguez group had declared Excellent Forex Inc. as its recipient of the money, which entered the country from July 17 last year to January this year.

The Chinese group brought in its stash from last Dec. 17 to last January.

But at the House of Representatives yesterday, Albay Rep. Joey Salceda revealed there are four syndicates involved in the entry of billions of pesos worth of foreign currencies in the past three months.

Salceda, who chairs the House committee on ways and means, made the revelation after a briefing with concerned executive agencies in preparation for the panel’s inquiry on the reported money laundering activities linked to POGO firms.

He said the equivalent of at least P28.6 billion in cash was brought into the country by groups involved either in POGOs or illegal drug activities and terrorist activities from December 2019 to February 2020. 

Apart from the Rodriguez and Chinese groups earlier identified by the BOC, there are two other syndicates from Singapore and Hong Kong.

“Seven kilos hand carry can accommodate $3 million to $4 million,” Salceda told reporters after the meeting with officials of the BOC, AMLC, BI, NBI, the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, National Intelligence Coordinating Council and airport authorities.

“Of 12 million arrivals last year, only 1,015 have Customs declarations,” he lamented.

Barbers hits agencies

Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert Ace Barbers deplored concerned government agencies’ inaction over the funneling of at least $370 million of suspected dirty money by some Chinese nationals into the country.

Barbers said the AMLC, BOC, DOF, NBI, PNP and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), among other concerned agencies, appear tightlipped and helpless on how to resolve this issue.         

“Worse, officials of these agencies knew the persons/personalities involved – the ‘Chinese Group’ and the ‘Rodriguez Group’ – and operatives of these syndicates are being escorted by police and military personnel in their very suspicious activities here,” he lamented. 

“Said amount was on official BOC and DOF records. What about the other monies that went in unchecked or just let pass through by the BOC because of corruption at the airports?” Barbers asked. 

Yesterday, the military said it will look into the alleged involvement of some of its personnel with Chinese nationals smuggling cash through the NAIA.

“Officially, we have heard that report only coming from the media. We have no direct information right now if we have AFP personnel who are assigned there (airport) for that period,” said military spokesman Brig. Gen. Edgard Arevalo.

“Allow us to check, coordinate with the department concerned to gather sufficient information so that we could conduct our own verification,” he said.

For his part, Interior Secretary Eduardo Año vowed to hold accountable police officers proven to have assisted criminals in smuggling cash.

“I can conduct an investigation and put these people into custodial investigation because it is a serious  matter,” said Año, who had directed the PNP to coordinate with the BOC on the matter.

Declaration is key

Meanwhile, NAIA customs deputy collector for passenger services Ma. Lourdes Mangaong said: “All foreign currencies brought into the country are legal as long as they are declared.”

Mangaong said foreign currency is freely importable, it is not regulated because the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas does not require import clearance/permit and foreign currency is not dutiable.

“We will seize the foreign currency in excess of $10,000 when the incoming passenger refused to declare (it),” Mangaong added.

Information about the money in excess of $10,000 is reported by the BOC to the AMLC, which has the duty to follow up on the incident.

She also said that security checks are tough, including X-ray scanning of bags, so there is no way foreign currencies can be smuggled in.

Mangaong clarified that all passengers who brought in foreign currency are not given a derogatory record.

“It is not important for us whether the money will be used or been played for Philippine offshore gaming operator or money laundering. It is the job of AMLC,” she said.

For her part, Sen. Leila de Lima warned that the continued presence of POGO firms will do more harm than good to the economy and to the moral, social and cultural norms that Filipinos have kept sacred.

De Lima said the country’s opening to these Chinese gambling firms signifies not only the Duterte administration’s pivot to China but also its transformation into a Chinese satellite.

“The opening of the Philippines to Chinese POGOs signifies an aspect of this Duterte-sponsored Chinese invasion that erodes our moral, social and cultural fabric,” she said in a handwritten dispatch from detention at Camp Crame.

“The POGOs of China’s triads are fast transforming our society into a cesspool of vice and criminality for Chinese citizens,” she added.  – With Mayen Jaymalin, Evelyn Macairan, Rudy Santos, Jaime Laude, Emmanuel Tupas, Delon Porcalla, Cecille Suerte Felipe, Edu Punay