Mayors given list of 402 illegal Pogos to shut down

Santa Rosa City Rep. Dan Fernandez hopes to have a positive result in the soonest possible time to help the government, especially the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission because it cannot operate against all 402 illegal Pogos. —Photo from the official website of the House of Representatives

MANILA, Philippines — The House of Representatives on Wednesday tapped mayors nationwide to promptly shut down 402 illegal Philippine offshore gaming operators (Pogos) in their areas, turning over dossiers containing the exact hub locations and personalities involved to the local chief executives.

The House committees on public order and safety and on games and amusements turned over thick file folders to the League of Cities of the Philippines (LCP) and the League of Municipalities of the Philippines (LMP) during the continuation of the panels’ Pogo inquiry.

Santa Rosa City Rep. Dan Fernandez, who chairs the public order and safety committee, said the panels expect to hear from the local executives within a month pertaining to the closure of the 402 illegal Pogos.

READ: Pimentel: Pagcor going around Pogo ban

He noted that the documents on these operators provided by the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) already contained the exact addresses, photographs, and incorporators.

“All that’s needed is to close them down,” he stressed.

READ: PH gov’t should use buildings that housed Pogos – Villanueva

PAOCC needs help

Fernandez added that, based on his initial reading of the documents on Tuesday night, he noticed that most of the Pogo incorporators were Chinese nationals.

“We hope we have a positive result in the soonest possible time to help our government, especially the PAOCC, because it cannot operate against all 402,” he pointed out, asking the mayors’ groups to give the House an assurance that the illegal Pogos would be shut down.

Lingayen, Pangasinan Mayor Leopoldo Bataoil read a statement of LMP national president and La Paz, Abra Mayor Joseph Bernos urging league members to “begin the process of winding up and closing down (Pogos) within their jurisdiction,” saying, “it’s not only a matter of legal adherence but a demonstration of our collective responsibility to our constituents and the nation.”

“We’re aware of the economic contributions that Pogos have provided but these cannot outweigh the overarching need to safeguard our nation and uphold the rule of law. It is our duty to prioritize the welfare of our citizens above all else,” Bernos said.

A statement from LCP national president and Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte assured lawmakers that the league would take immediate actions and measures to ensure LCP members would comply with the Pogo ban.

She called on other city mayors to identify weaknesses in their business licensing and monitoring processes.

No Pogos in Ceza

Meanwhile, Katrina Ponce Enrile, Cagayan Economic Zone Authority (Ceza) administrator and CEO, maintained that there was no Pogo in the special economic zone and free port.

“Pogos are the exclusive creation of the past administration of the (Pagcor),” she said, referring to former Pagcor chair Cristino Naguiat Jr., who in 2011 started toying with the idea to allow internet and interactive gaming service providers to locate within Pagcor’s jurisdiction.

“It is in direct competition with Ceza but with a certain advantage that they could also take bets within the country,” she pointed out, adding that Pogos were initially operationalized by Pagcor in 2013.

‘Mutation’

In 2017, Pagcor institutionalized Pogos and then Pagcor chair Andrea Domingo, who was supposed to give licenses to only 25 Pogos, issued more.

Enrile pointed out that the Pogo structure was a “mutation” of the Ceza model, saying, “it transformed into something else not anymore reflective of what was being done in Ceza.”

She pointed out that there hasn’t been any Pogo-related crime under Ceza’s watch.

“For more than 20 years that Ceza has been regulating and licensing I-gaming and interactive gaming support service providers, it never had any instances of kidnapping, human trafficking, torture, scams and murder,” she said.

Enrile emphasized that Ceza’s internet gaming service providers are “merely providers” and do not accept bets, noting that sub-licensing is prohibited unlike the structure for Pogos that allowed “fly-by-night operations and scam operators to proliferate” with Pagcor no longer able to track how deep the sub-licenses went.

Raw information

Also in the House, Sen. Joel Villanueva said his office had received a tip that at least three or four more local chief executives in the National Capital Region, Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Quezon) and Central Luzon may be involved in the operations of illegal Pogos.

“There is raw information. There are those who reached out through Facebook, for instance, where I encountered at least three or four local executives that we haven’t heard of yet but some parties want them to be investigated, so we just forwarded their complaints (to the National Bureau of Investigation and Philippine National Police),” he said on Wednesday.

“It’s not yet verified. With the amount of money that’s flowing from these operations, lobbyists coming from chief executives, from local government units, I’m almost sure that there are (officials involved). Even in the legislature, even in the judiciary,” he noted.

“But I will not be surprised and I am actually saying this—my gut feel, there really is. The influence of Pogo is vast, it’s very, very extensive, given the amount of money involved,” he said.

For ban to last

Villanueva called on President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to include his Senate Bill No. 2752, or the proposed Anti-Pogo Act, among the administration’s priority measures to lock in the ban he announced in his third State of the Nation Address on July 22.

“[I]f I’d be given a chance to talk to the President, I would appeal to make this [bill] a priority because I’m sure the President was so happy about the reaction of the people,” Villanueva said during the Kapihan sa Senado forum.

According to Villanueva, SB 2752, which calls for the permanent cancellation of Pogo licenses issued by Pagcor and the various ecozones, is a response to the President’s directive.

The measure would ensure that the Pogo ban would go beyond the present administration, he added.

—WITH A REPORT FROM TINA G. SANTOS