Palace: No POGO operations during Luzon quarantine

MANILA, Philippines — The operations of the Philippine offshore gaming operators, which sparked controversy because of their alleged links to unlawful activities, will be suspended due to the Luzon-wide enhanced community quarantine.

The Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases said POGOs are not exempted from the quarantine protocols being implemented to contain the 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

"Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators shall not be allowed to operate," a memorandum signed Wednesday by Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea read.

POGOs had initially been allowed to operate with skeletal staffs when a community quarantine was declared over the National Capital Region last Sunday. That has since been ramped up to an "enhanced community quarantine" that mandates home quarantine across Luzon. 

The quarantine period started Tuesday and will end on midnight of April 13. The enhanced community quarantine involves strict home quarantine for all households, regulation of the provision of food and essential health services, and the heightened presence of uniformed personnel to enforce quarantine procedures.

Employees of establishments involved in the production, processing and distribution of basic necessities, uniformed personnel, personnel involved in health work, border control emergency, and other mission-critical services and media with authorization from the Presidential Communications Operations Office are exempted from the home quarantine.

POGOs made headlines after they were associated with illegal activities like money laundering, human trafficking, prostitution, tax evasion, kidnapping, and bribery of immigration personnel.

Despite reports that some POGO transactions are linked to suspicious activities, President Rodrigo Duterte rejected calls to suspend the operation of the gambling entities, saying the government earns billions from them.

Officials, nevertheless, have given assurances that those involved in unlawful acts tied to POGOs would be prosecuted.