Senators renew call for review of Pogo operations

INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — Senators on Friday reiterated their call for a review of offshore gaming operations in the country.

The legislators issued separate statements on Philippine offshore gaming operators (Pogos) after the Supreme Court (SC) ruled that the 5-percent franchise tax on gross bets from their operations under the Bayanihan 2 law is unconstitutional.

The senators said they welcome the decision of the SC. But they also argued that it is moot and academic because Republic Act (RA) No. 11590 or An Act Taxing Philippine Offshore Gaming Operations has already been passed into law.

READ: Pogos cannot be made liable for taxes prior to RA 11590 – SC

“We… reiterate our call for the government to take a hard look at our POGO policy. We have to undertake an in-depth review of the pros and cons of allowing POGOs to operate in our country in light of the recent spate of abduction cases and other established negative social costs,” Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri said.

READ: ‘Is it worth it?’: Zubiri says social costs of Pogos, meager revenue must be weighed

Senate Majority Leader Joel Villanueva shared the same view with Zubiri.

“We still have to re-examine our policy on online gambling. The question remains: does revenue the government generates from POGOs outweigh the social costs of online gambling? We filed Senate Resolution No. 225 precisely to investigate this matter, in the wake of the rising criminal activities that involve POGOs,” Villanueva said.

For opposition Senator Risa Hontiveros, the SC’s ruling scrapped the last reason for Pogos’ presence in the country.

“The Supreme Court has  effectively removed the last remaining justification for POGOs — the revenue contribution to our national coffers. With the revenue from ancillary services debatable at best, and the real estate benefits negated by adverse impacts to the Filipino housing market, I don’t see any further reason why POGOs should not be banned from our shores,” she said.

As for Senator Sonny Angara, chairperson of the committee on finance, the tax provision on Pogos was amended by RA No. 11590.

“The Pogo tax provision in Bayanihan 2 was already amended by the subsequent pogo tax law, that is RA 11590. So in that respect the decision is already moot and academic,” he said.

Discussions on offshore gaming operations in the country resurfaced following the series of Pogo-related abductions.

The government has collected P3 billion from Pogos, which is way lower than its projected P32-billion revenue for 2022.

READ: Pogo revenue slump blamed on ‘change in environment’ —Diokno

KGA