Marcos wants good reason to ban POGOs

ZURICH – President Marcos wants a “good reason” to ban Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGOs), citing the need to examine if their operations are beneficial to the Philippines.

Asked to react to calls to ban POGOs, Marcos said it would depend on the purpose of banning them since the problem lies with illegal operators.

“The problem are the illegal ones, not the legal ones. The legal ones pay their bills, pay their taxes and, you know, those videos showing killings, they are the illegal ones,” Marcos told reporters last Friday here.

“That’s why we have deported a lot of illegal operators. We shuttered illegal POGOs and deported all of their personnel. So I don’t know what would be the point. It’s not a huge part of our economy,” he added.

The Chief Executive said it is also necessary to determine if POGOs have a social cost.

“And if it’s adjudged that there is a social cost, it might not be worth it. The cost might not be worth what they’re paying in taxes anymore,” he said.

He added that the issue involving POGOs came up as a response to killings and violence tied to illegal gambling firms.

“All of these things we should be continuously examining to see if it’s still … a good idea for the Philippines,” the President said.

“I’d like to know what the motivation is for that, to ban them. There may be a good reason,” he added.

POGOs have been linked to unlawful activities like money laundering, prostitution, tax evasion, human trafficking, kidnapping and bribery of immigration personnel.

China has expressed support for the Philippines’ crackdown against crimes tied to POGOs, saying they harm Beijing’s interests as well as its ties with Manila.

“If China wants us to (crack down), we’ll see what the arrangement could be,” Marcos said.

In 2021, then president Rodrigo Duterte signed a law taxing POGOs as part of the government’s efforts to regulate gambling.

Revenues collected from POGOs totaled about P7.2 billion in 2020, but the figure decreased to P3.9 billion the following year.

Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno is in favor of stopping the operations of POGOs, citing what he called their “social and reputational risks.”