Senate Majority Leader Joel Villanueva —Senate PRIB
Senate Majority Leader Joel Villanueva said on Thursday that he would present for plenary deliberations next week the draft report of the committee on ways and means that is pushing for a phaseout of Philippine offshore gaming operators (Pogo) in the country. “With these crimes being committed left and right by Pogo, obviously, it is about time to close down these kinds of operations,” he said. The senator referred to the raid of a Pogo hub on Saturday, which exposed a vice ring inside a six-story building in Pasay City, with facilities for gambling, prostitution, adult entertainment and restaurant dining. A total of 731 workers, including seven Filipino women, were purportedly “rescued” from what authorities described as an “aquarium-style” viewing chamber of a massage parlor on the building’s second floor. Villanueva expressed disgust over the inability of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) to check on its licensees’ activities. “This Smart Web [Technology Corp.] has become notorious after having been rounded up its illegal activities,” he said, adding that it is one of the two Pogo firms whose licenses were earlier revoked by Pagcor but were found to be operating under a new business name but with the same officers. He said he would calendar the committee report on Pogos next week because of the unabated incidents of crimes linked to their operations despite the months of delay, as some senators have objected to their total phaseout. Villanueva reiterated, however, his position that Pogo operations must be shut down, supposedly because of the social costs they bring to the country, and the inability of the government to regulate their operations. Discussions on the Pogo phaseout may likewise be an opportunity for the Senate to tackle the national policy on the gambling industry. —MELVIN GASCON