Photo from the Pagcor website
MANILA, Philippines — No criminal activities concerning the industry of offshore gaming operations have been reported for over three months, said the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (Pagcor).
Pagcor made this remark on Tuesday after Senator Sherwin Gatchalian recently called the government-owned gaming regulator out in a Senate hearing for its seeming failure to address the illegal activities of Philippine offshore gaming operators (Pogos).
READ: Pagcor’s lack of urgency on illegal Pogo activities irks Gatchalian
“There have been no reported criminal activities or kidnapping-related incidents of workers in the offshore licensing industry for over three months,” it said in a statement, noting that this is a result of an inter-agency crackdown on illegal gaming operations in the country.
Pagcor assured the public that it had been closely monitoring the cases involving MOA Cloudzone Corp. and Brickhartz Technology Inc., which have both been implicated in criminal cases involving Chinese Pogo workers.
The case lodged against MOA Cloudzone, according to Pagcor, was dismissed by the Department of Justice in November 2022, while that of Brickhartz Technology remains under investigation.
“We are coordinating with the Philippine National Police and other agencies regarding this matter. Pagcor wishes to reiterate that it does not take these reports lightly, and it will ensure that all gaming licensees abide by the law,” it added.
Pagcor further noted that “it is conscientiously looking into the matter and will take the necessary actions, including the cancellation of licenses and service provider accreditations if found warranted.”
Contract with Pogo auditor under review
Gatchalian, chair of the Senate ways and means committee, had also expressed alarm over the P6-billion contract the government entered into with Pagcor’s third-party auditor for offshore licensees–Glocal ComRCI–which, he claimed, is “not credible, not capable…not qualified.”
READ: Gov’t ‘tricked’ by POGO auditor, senators say
But Pagcor said the awarding of the contract in December 2017 went through the proper bidding process and met all the legal requirements as stated in the procurement law.
It also pointed out that the contract with Global ComRCI has been under review since September last year.
“We assure the Senators that the review will soon be finished and released at the proper time. We have been in contact with Global ComRCI and are currently assessing the contract’s terms and conditions and the company’s performance,” Pagcor added.