POGO ban not discussed by Cabinet – NEDA chief

MANILA, Philippines — As calls to ban Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGOs) mount due to their supposed links to illegal activities, the proposal has yet to be discussed in the Cabinet, although the government is preparing in case such a policy is enforced.

POGOs have been tied to unlawful activities including human trafficking, money laundering, tax evasion, prostitution, kidnapping, torture and bribery, prompting some groups to call for a crackdown on their operations.

“We haven’t really talked about it in the sense of … I mean at the level of the economic managers. I’m not quite aware if there are other meetings,” Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said at a press briefing when asked if the POGO issue has been discussed by the Cabinet.

“But I keep my (view) that our...focus (should be on) generating high quality jobs, good jobs and (not) creating gambling jobs... I think that there are a lot of other opportunities for the country, for the economy and for our workers and we can focus on those,” he added.

Labor Secretary Bienvenido Laguesma said his agency has conducted a profiling of the workers to be affected by a POGO ban to determine what training and options can be offered to them.

“I cannot say that we are really ready but we are preparing for it. We are anticipating the possible negative effect (of a ban) and that’s also the reason why we are profiling. Because we cannot actually just wait for the day of their closure. We have to transition,” Laguesma said.

President Marcos has not issued a policy statement on calls to ban POGOs. In a media interview in Zurich last year, Marcos said he wanted a “good reason” to ban POGOs.

“The problem are the illegal ones, not the legal ones. The legal ones pay their bills, pay their taxes and you know, those videos showing killings, they are the illegal ones,” he said at that time.

“That’s why we have deported a lot of illegal operators. We shuttered illegal POGOs and deported all of their personnel. So I don’t know what would be the point. It’s not a huge part of our economy.”

Last Monday, Finance Secretary Ralph Recto said he was willing to recommend a ban on POGOs because of the issues