EDITORIAL – Attachment to POGOs

The former secretary of finance had said the government could do without the minimal revenues collected from Philippine offshore gaming operator firms, which don’t pay the correct taxes in the first place. Cybersecurity police have traced many online scams to existing or former POGO hubs. Anti-crime groups are warning of increasing cases of kidnapping for ransom related to foreigners with connections to POGOs.

In October 2022, then finance chief Benjamin Diokno had told a Senate hearing that revenues from POGOs were “not worth the trouble.” Diokno, in a position paper, pointed out: “Studies on the POGO industry have shown that POGO operations involve illegal activities such as prostitution, employment of minors and violation of labor laws… It is time to pursue investments that will create value and high-quality jobs for our people, in line with our vision of an inclusive and sustainable economic development.”

Two years later, POGOs continue to operate, despite numerous police raids unearthing a host of questionable and patently criminal activities starting with illegal entry into the country and human trafficking. In the latest story, the Philippine Anti-Organized Crime Commission or PAOCC reported that at least 402 POGO hubs nationwide have expired licenses, with about 90 percent of the operations concentrated in Metro Manila.

The PAOCC reported this following a raid last Wednesday on a POGO hub in Bamban, Tarlac. During the raid on the 36 buildings occupied by Zuan Yuan Technology Inc., police rounded up 658 workers including 202 Chinese nationals, 54 Vietnamese, 13 Malaysians, two Indonesians, two Rwandans, a Taiwanese and a citizen of Kyrgyzstan. The raiders reportedly arrested those who acted as “enforcers” at the hub, who imposed punishment on employees who failed to meet work quotas.

Several senators have been pushing for a total ban on POGOs. China, which prohibits offshore gaming for its citizens even overseas, has warned of the social costs of the operations, and has been asking the Philippine government to shut down POGOs. It was one of the few requests of Beijing that Rodrigo Duterte turned down during his presidency.

POGOs continue to operate in the current administration. Why this attachment to POGOs has been sustained is the subject of mostly negative speculation. It’s time for the government to act decisively on the issue.