No need to wait for damage

Senators challenged the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (PAGCOR) to name the former Cabinet official who allegedly facilitated the grant of gaming licenses to Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGOs) so as not to cast doubt on all other former members of the Cabinet.

The bombshell revelation of Alejandro “Al” Tengco, chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (PAGCor), may be likened to an improvised explosive device (IED) he triggered while he was still holding on to it. In a press statement he issued over the weekend, Tengco accused a certain former Cabinet official as allegedly “trying to intercede for POGOs,” or the Philippine Online Gaming Operators. 

Senator Win Gatchalian accused the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) of “sleeping on the job” after thousands of SIM cards were found in raids of POGO hubs in Pasay, Bamban and Porac. The raiding teams from the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) tagged these supposedly POGO operations as hotbeds of illegal activities by foreign criminal syndicates victimizing people here and abroad. They give our country a bad international reputation.

Veteran power energy executive Emmanuel Rubio is taking the reins at Meralco PowerGen Corp. (MGen) as its new president and CEO effective today.

A former high-ranking government official tried to secure gaming licenses for several illegal Philippine offshore gaming operators that have recently been raided, the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. said.