PRESIDENT BONGBONG Marcos is closely watching the Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO) in the country and expects the police to act on untoward incidents involving its operations, according to spokeswoman Undersecretary Cheloy Garafil.
During a press briefing in Malacañang, Garafil was asked if there is a directive from Marcos regarding the POGO industry considering the controversies surrounding its operations.
“Of course, the President is closely monitoring this. And as far as the President is concerned, ang PNP po ang in-charge dito sa usapin na ito,” Garafil said.
She also welcomed the statement from the Chinese Embassy in Manila clarifying that the Philippines was not blacklisted as a destination for Chinese tourists.
According to the embassy, the report (made by Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri who quoted Chinese Ambassador Huang Xilian) of the tourist blacklist is misinformation.
“Nakita na natin iyong paglilinaw nga ng Chinese Embassy, at nag-post na rin sila ng official statement nila sa kanilang social media accounts. And we share the sentiment of the Chinese Embassy in the Philippines that tourism is an important facet to our relationship,” Garafil said.
“And we look forward to continuing with that relationship as we continuously welcome our friends from China, and we anticipate more of them to come in the months and years ahead,” she added.
The Marcos administration sees the tourism industry as a significant income generator for the country as it reopens following the imposition of restrictions due to the new coronavirus pandemic.
Beijing has strongly opposed the operation of POGO - mostly by Chinese gamblers and financiers - in the Philippines.
Huang has repeatedly warned that the proliferation of crimes linked to POGO are harmful to relations between the two nations, adding Beijing strongly opposes all forms of gambling and will continue to take strong measures against it.
“According to the Chinese laws and regulations, gambling in whatever form by Chinese citizens, be it online gambling or gambling overseas, is illegal. Crimes induced by and associated with online gambling not only harm China’s interests and China-Philippines relations, but also hurt the interests of the Philippines,” he said.
More crimes
Even Senator Francis Escudero said since POGO operation was approved during Duterte’s term, there were a total of 496,620 POGO-related criminal incidents in 2019; and in 2020, there were 394,468 criminal incidents reported; and in 2021, there were 375,731 cases. Among them were trafficking in person; kidnap-for-ransom, kidnapping with serious illegal detention, serious physical injuries. Most of the victims were Chinese gamblers.
PAGCOR
The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) is campaigning for the continuation of the POGO.
Senator Grace Poe also chided PAGCOR for allowing the POGO operations despite its awareness that such form of gambling has been declared illegal in China. She noted that PAGCOR’s position is that POGOs should not be banned in the Philippines.
She said PAGCOR also insisted that it does not allow the marketing of online gambling in jurisdictions where it is not allowed, even as most POGOs and service operators in the Philippines cater to Chinese nationals.
“Are you just turning a blind eye? Because if you can tell us categorically that there are no players from China, because it is prohibited, that's a big lie. Basically, we are condoning them to violate their own laws. You are allowing these POGOs to operate here knowing full well that their clients or their customers are from a country where online gaming is illegal,” Poe told PAGCOR officials during a recent hearing.
Duterte
POGO operations started during the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte despite the proliferation of crimes such as money laundering, prostitution, and human trafficking.
The Anti-Money Laundering Council also reported that P14 billion of the P54 billion in transactions by POGO operators from 2017 to 2019 was linked to suspicious activities, including drug trafficking.
Duterte had refused to shut down the POGO operations, citing the huge revenues the government gets from the gambling industry. (Mindanao Examiner)
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