When President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. delivered his State of the Nation Address last Monday, the most applauded part, which earned a standing ovation, was his unequivocal declaration and order to finally stop the operation of Philippine Offshore Gaming Operation (POGO) hubs in the country.
Some sectors and even critics of the President were quick to point out that at least he has listened to the clamor to end POGOs, considering that they have become the source of so many crimes and a conduit for criminal syndicates to perpetrate their illegal activities.
But delving deeper into the POGO issue, we might be shocked to discover, and this is probably what compelled the President to terminate this online gambling operation, that the country, at least during the past administration, has unwittingly allowed crimes and illegal activities to enter and flourish right within our communities—matters that are against the very laws the government seeks to uphold. Just think about it: who would have the courage to entertain ideas and act on them by setting up online gambling joints with clients from mainland China, which, as we all know, has strictly banned gambling in its territory? If you believe that these POGO hubs in the country are being run, probably a majority of them, particularly those without licenses, by gambling and criminal syndicates from mainland China, then congratulations—you are absolutely right! There is no way that non-Chinese individuals or groups are behind these POGO operations. Possibly, the only instance where Filipinos or other Asians are found to be running these POGOs is when they are acting as fronts or dummies for these Chinese criminal syndicates.
That is why when the Senate investigation led by Senator Risa Hontiveros uncovered the involvement of suspended mayor Alice Guo of Bamban, Tarlac in the operation of a raided POGO hub in that town, the whole complicity of Chinese criminal groups in that sordid affair was also exposed. And if we believe the claim of the Senate investigative body that somehow these Chinese-led criminal groups were able to put in place a formidable protector for their POGO operation in the person of a town mayor masquerading as a Filipino but who, in actuality, was really a Chinese national, we now realize the deviousness by which these Chinese criminal syndicates operate. They can even dupe the government into thinking that their POGO operation is legal and in accordance with the law. We can just imagine how the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR), which is a 100% government-owned and controlled corporation (GOCC), allowed itself to be used by these criminal syndicates from mainland China in order for them to set up their gambling business here inside the country. Afterwards, they allowed their gambling operation to branch out into other criminal and illegal activities, such as online scams, sexual and labor trafficking, illegal drugs, money laundering, and even physical abuse and torture.
This is also why the President made the right call when he decided to finally put a stop to these POGO operations in the country, despite the economic benefits that have been derived or could be derived in the future from such online gaming and gambling activities.
However, as astutely pointed out by one critic of the President,considering that there are only 43 POGO licensees that PAGCOR can shut down, while there are about 100 illegal POGO hubs nefariously conducting their gambling business in the country, as reported by the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC).
How, then, do we run after these illegal POGO hubs still operating in the country? One suggestion might be to put up monetary rewards, such as so-called bounties, to whoever can provide credible, verifiable information about the specific places and areas where these illegal POGOs are being conducted, and which would lead to the arrest of the operators or the groups running the show.
Another would be to include in the criminal prosecution or indictment, and make equally liable, those who would allow their properties, deliberately or inadvertently, to be used as POGO hubs, up to and including the confiscation and forfeiture of their properties in favor of the government—after due process and the conduct of court proceedings, of course. Relative to this, laws must be enacted that would direct property owners to strictly scrutinize prospective lessees before renting out their properties.
All the above can be done by the government as soon as possible to comply with the order of the President and to end the depredations of POGOs in the Philippines.
