MANILA, Philippines — In line with his directive to cease operations of all Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (Pogos) by the end of 2024, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. directed law enforcement and anti-corruption entities to carry out “smaller scale, multiple operations” targeting these Pogos.
Marcos said this during the 2nd Joint National Peace and Order Council-Regional Peace and Order Council meeting for 2024 in Camp Crame in Quezon City on Thursday, the Presidential Communications Office (PCO) said in a statement.
READ: DILG to issue EO on reporting suspicious Pogo activities – Remulla
According to the PCO, the Philippine Anti-Organized Crime Commission, the Philippine National Police, and the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group were instructed to intensify their operations to shut down Pogos that are still operating in violation of the ban.
Marcos also urged local chief executives to coordinate with the Department of the Interior and local government to crack down on Pogos, the PCO said.
Furthermore, in a Palace briefing last Wednesday, Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla said he would release an executive order to local chief executives (LCEs) requiring them to report any suspicious activities related to Pogos.
“Mag-i-issue po ang aming kagawaran ng isang EO sa lahat ng mga LCE na required silang mag-submit ng suspicious activities within their localities sa mga movement or possible setup ng mga Pogo,” Remulla said in a Palace briefing.
(Our department will issue an EO to all LCEs requiring them to report suspicious activities within their localities related to the movements or possible setups of Pogos.)
“Malalaman iyan sa spike bigla ng bandwidth use, entry of suspicious people congregating in houses not registered as businesses, makikita iyan sa movement ng mga foreigners na gustong mag-setup diyan na hindi naman kilala,” he also said.
(This can be identified through a sudden spike in bandwidth usage, the entry of suspicious individuals gathering in houses not registered as businesses, and the movement of foreigners attempting to set up operations without proper identification.)