DOF: Pogo ban effect on tax drive minimal

Finance Secretary Ralph G. Recto —Senate Public Relations and Information Bureau

MANILA, Philippines — Finance Secretary Ralph Recto assured senators on Tuesday that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s decision to pull the plug on Philippine offshore gaming operators (Pogos) would have no impact on the government’s revenue collection.

During the Development Budget Coordination Committee briefing, the head of the President’s economic team also said that primary revenue-generating agencies would be able to achieve their respective targets for 2024.

Responding to questions from Sen. Loren Legarda, Recto said the Department of Finance (DOF) did not include the possible tax collection from Pogos in the government’s projected income to fund the proposed P6.352-trillion national budget next year.

READ: Marcos bans Pogo, cites ‘disorder’ it caused PH

The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. earlier estimated that as much as P7.5 billion in expected revenues would be lost after Marcos ordered it to wind down the activities of Pogos until the end of the year.

Better in the long run

“We never considered the revenue from Pogos, which is just minimal,” Recto told Legarda.

Legarda, one of the senators who had called for a nationwide ban on the offshore gambling business, then asked him if it was accurate to conclude that the prohibition would not affect the economy.

“That is correct,” Recto replied. “If there is, its impact would be negligible. But in the long run, [the ban on Pogos] will be better for us.”

Legarda agreed, adding that the criminal activities associated with Pogos, such as kidnapping and cyberfraud had only adversely affected the country’s peace and order situation as well as its image in the international business community.

Revenues up

“Our image, peace and order, national security, and protection of the rights of our people—all of these—will be well worth it,” she said.

According to Recto, the government has already met its revenue targets during the first half of the year after collecting P2.15 trillion, nearly 16 percent more compared with the same period in 2023.

From January to June this year, he said that the total tax collections of the Bureau of Internal Revenue and Bureau of Customs totaled P1.84 trillion, a 10-percent jump from the same period last year.

“With higher government revenue collections and improved expenditure management, our fiscal deficit is projected to drop from 5.6 percent in 2024 to 3.7 percent by 2028,” Recto added.

“We are making good, steady progress on our economic goals. And the numbers we have point in that direction,” he said.