Marcos should break his silence on Pogos – lawmakers

By: Gabriel Pabico Lalu – 52 minutes ago

MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and his administration must make their position clear on Philippine offshore gaming operators (Pogos) amid calls to ban them in the country due to social costs, two lawmakers said Tuesday.

Senator Risa Hontiveros and Surigao del Norte 2nd District Representative Robert Ace Barbers have said on separate occasions that the administration must break its silence on the Pogos as investigations show that many Pogos are linked to human trafficking, kidnapping, prostitution and even torture rings.

According to Hontiveros, if Marcos can talk about the West Philippine Sea (WPS), he should talk even more about Pogos.

“I really don’t know what he’s waiting for because Pagcor said that Pogos only generate P5 billion despite their optimistic promises. They owe a lot of money in terms of taxes, and when you weigh up all the social and now political costs of Pogo, it seems like it doesn’t bring any benefit; it’s just… the cost to the Philippines,” Hontiveros said in Filipino during an interview on ABS-CBN news channel Headstart.

“If he can unequivocally hit back at China on the West Philippine Sea issues, why does he seem to be dragging his feet when it comes to Pogos? Or is he waiting for a better time? Is he thinking about something, but several Senate committees have already conducted investigations on this… So what is the president waiting for?” she added.

Barbers echoed the same sentiments.

“The social cost of this industry has proven to be so high that… it is not proportional to the revenue we get, so we should have a strong stance on this,” Barbers said in Filipino when asked at a press briefing whether the administration should start talking about Pogos.

“The administration should already start talking about it,” he added.

In October 2022, then-Press Undersecretary Cheloy Garafil said Marcos was “closely monitoring” issues regarding Pogos.

READ: Bongbong Marcos ‘closely monitoring’ POGO issue — Palace

In January 2023, Marcos said he was not rushing to ban Pogos despite suggestions from some groups, noting that the crackdown should target illegal Pogos because legal operators pay taxes.

READ: Bongbong Marcos in no rush to ban POGOs

However, last March 13, 371 Filipinos and 497 foreigners were rescued from a legal Pogo in Bamban, Tarlac, which had been raided for alleged involvement in human trafficking.

READ: Over 800 Filipinos, foreign workers from Pogo rescued in Tarlac raid

Pogo was linked to suspended Bamban Mayor Alice Guo. The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) accused the local chief executive of having business interests in Baofu Land Development Inc.

Baofu owns the land where Pogo, which was attacked, is located. The DILG said Baofu, represented by Guo, who was the company’s chairman, purchased eight plots of land in Bamban in February 2019.

Guo said she had surrendered the Baofu property, but the DILG found that the amount she surrendered it for – P2.5 million – was “grossly inconsistent with her investment in Baufo, which amounted to about eight hectares of land.”

Senators believed Guo’s real identity was that of Chinese national Guo Hua Ping, with the National Bureau of Investigation confirming that the two figures’ fingerprints matched.

READ: Mayor Alice Guo is also China’s Guo Hua Ping, NBI confirms

Proposals have been made to ban Pogos in the country. On June 11, lawmakers from the Makabayan bloc filed House Bill No. 10525, or the Anti-Pogo Act of 2024, which seeks to revoke licenses and ban future Pogos due to the social cost they entail.