Sen. Sherwin “Win” Gatchalian —Senate PRIB
MANILA, Philippines — Have you noticed it, too?
The successive raids on illegal Philippine offshore gaming operators (Pogos) have resulted in the sudden drop in scam text messages that Filipinos used to receive on a daily basis, Sen. Sherwin “Win” Gatchalian said on Saturday.
According to Gatchalian, this was yet another proof that Pogos were indeed behind a modus operandi that had pestered—if not victimized—thousands of mobile phone users since the pandemic years.
READ: Pogo ban just first step
He said the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) should take advantage of the situation by fully enforcing Republic Act No. 11934, or the Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) Registration Act.
“The NTC should be strict in implementing the SIM registration law and proactive in plugging the gaps,” Gatchalian told the Inquirer.
READ: Better implementation of SIM card registration law pushed
He stressed a major reason why Pogo hubs proliferated in the Philippines was “because NTC has been lax in implementing the law.”
From Senate probe to Sona
The senator said he first learned about the marked reduction in the number of spam messages from barangay officials in his hometown of Valenzuela City.
“I also observed that. It was obvious that these Pogo hubs started to target locals and lure them to their scamming activities. Crimes know no boundaries,” he added.
Gatchalian and Sen. Risa Hontiveros have spearheaded a Senate investigation into serious crimes being linked to Pogos, like kidnapping, torture, human trafficking, cyberscams and murder. The inquiry resulted in the authorities, particularly the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission, becoming more aggressive in conducting raids on Pogos suspected of being fronts for organized crime.
Amid mounting calls to ban such establishments, President Marcos announced a nationwide ban on Pogos during his third State of the Nation Address (Sona) on July 22.
“Disguising as legitimate entities, their operations have ventured into illicit areas furthest from gaming, such as financial scamming, money laundering, prostitution, human trafficking, kidnapping, brutal torture, (and) even murder,” the President said.