POGOs near military camps baffle lawmaker

MANILA, Philippines — The presence of Chinese-run Philippine offshore gaming operations, or POGOs, near military camps is a puzzle to a party-list lawmaker and Davao City constituent of President Duterte.

Rep. Jericho Nograles of Puwersa ng Bayaning Atleta yesterday posted on social media aerial maps showing the locations of POGOs around important military and civilian installations in Metro Manila, Cavite and Subic.

One map shows Camp Aguinaldo and Camp Crame in Quezon City surrounded by POGOs located in the Araneta complex in Cubao, Eastwood in Libis and the Ortigas Center in Pasig City.

Camp Aguinaldo is the headquarters of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. It also houses the offices of the Department of National Defense, whose secretary, Delfin Lorenzana, has been lately critical of reported passage of Chinese naval vessels in Philippine waters in Mindanao without coordination with the government.

Camp Crame, on the other hand, is the headquarters of the Philippine National Police.

Another map indicates Fort Bonifacio in Taguig City, home of the Philippine Army. Not far from it are Chinese gaming operators situated in McKinley West and McKinley Hills.

The third map shows Villamor Air Base, where the Philippine Air Force is headquartered. Less than two kilometers away are POGOs operating within the Resorts World complex.

The three other maps show such gaming establishments near the Philippine Navy, the Senate, the former air base in Sangley Point in Cavite, and the former American navy installation in Subic, Zambales, which is now a free port.

 “I am sharing these photos, which I got off the internet should make for good debate,” Nograles said.

Asked if he was concerned that the POGOs were being used for spying or monitoring what is going on in military camps, he said he was not yet raising such concern. “I need to study more. I see something else afoot,” he said.

Another congressman, Surigao del Sur’s Robert Ace Barbers, has warned authorities that drug syndicates and other crime groups might use offshore gaming operations licensed by the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. to launder billions in illegally acquired funds.