Panelo: ‘Cautious’ Duterte has ‘enough basis’ not to order shutdown of Pogos

MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte has “enough basis” not to order the shutdown of the Chinese-dominated Philippine Offshore Gaming Operations (Pogos), Malacañang said Monday as it defended the chief executive stance against the closure of the controversy-filled Pogos.

“Apparently he has enough basis to say not to stop or suspend apart from Pagcor’s (Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp.) recommendation or report,” presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo said in a Palace briefing.

“The president does not decide just like that. He’s a very cautious person,” he added.

Panelo earlier announced that the President has rejected a proposed suspension of Pogos despite the alleged irregularities linked to its operations such as money laundering, corruption, illegal recruitment, and human trafficking.

According to Panelo, a report from Pagcor, the country’s gaming regulator, convinced the President to keep Pogos running, citing the revenues the government may receive from it.

But when asked if other government agencies submitted their report to Duterte, Panelo said: “I have no personal knowledge but the President will certainly have access to them.”

Panelo pointed out that issues hounding Pogos can be addressed if concerned government agencies will do their jobs and implement the law, instead of stopping the operations entirely.

“in other words, you cannot be burning the entire house just because there are so many rats there,” he said.

Calls for the closure of Pogos came after the Anti-Money Laundering Council revealed that at least P14 billion of their transactions were related to suspicious activities.

Some lawmakers have since joined the call to shutdown Pogos.