House leaders want ban on POGOs if they won’t be taxed properly

MANILA, Philippines — House Minority Leader Bienvenido Abante Jr. and ways and means panel chair Joey Salceda would rather push for a ban on offshore gaming companies in the country if they would not be taxed properly.

Abante proposed the ban of Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs) during the hearing of the committee on Monday, as he expressed concerns over the growing presence of Chinese workers in the country.

“If we are not going to really tax the POGO thing let’s scrap it altogether,” the Manila 6th District representative said.

“The government does not need any kind of gaming that cannot be taxed… We do not want a lot of Chinese people in this country anyway,” he added.

Salceda, the representative of Albay’s 2nd District, backed Abante’s proposal.

“Bakit mo pa papayagan kung hindi mo rin lang mabu-buwisan, tama po s’ya, suportado ko po (Why would we allow POGOs if we can’t tax them? He is right, I support his proposal),” Salceda said in a separate interview.

The lawmakers’ comments came after Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation Senior Manager for Policy Development Jessa Fernandez warned during the hearing that imposing higher taxes on POGOs may discourage gaming companies to operate here and thus, hurt the government’s revenues.

READ: Pagcor cautions House from imposing higher tax on POGOs

Salceda has proposed House Bill No. 5267, which seeks to impose a 15 percent income tax foreign individuals employed and assigned in the Philippines by an offshore gaming licensee.

The bill also hikes to 5 percent, from the current 2 percent, the tax imposed on all offshore gaming companies on gross receipts collected from its operations covered by the law granting their franchise.

The government will earn up to P44 billion per year if the measure is signed into law, according to Salceda. /kga