The Philippine Offshore Gambling Operators (POGOs) continue to be a hot topic, even as COVID-19 grabs most of the headlines. As the country starts to debate which businesses should open when the lockdown ends, at least one POGO has been caught operating illegally, throwing everything the country knows about the industry into doubt.
A Friday night raid on April 24 in Parañaque City discovered a POGO firm staying in business, despite the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) dictating that it should have been closed, and direction from the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation to suspend all operations. Police received reports of armed civilians loitering in the area, and dispatched a mobile patrol to check it out.
When the men were approached, they ran into a nearby house, where 44 Chinese nationals and 9 Filipinos were detained. Inside the house, they seized 36 laptops, 17 desktops, five guns, and PHP1.3 million ($26,000) in cash.
Mayor Edwin Olivarez was outraged by the discovery, telling media that the image of his city had been destroyed. He vowed to press charges against the group, who he said had no permission from the city to operate. He suspected the group may have persuaded local authorities to turn a blind eye to the operation.
By Monday morning, Vice President Leni Robredo, commenting on which part of the economy should re-open first, noted that re-starting the mostly Chinese POGO industry would not accomplish much for Filipinos. “It might be an ugly message for them to open before businesses that employ Filipinos,” she said. “If we are barring those for Filipino, why are POGOs being given apparent privilege to reopen?”
Pointing to the findings of Senate inquiries, Robredo added that POGOs only contribute 0.04% of the domestic economy, and are perceived as more trouble than they’re worth. “We know that there is corruption, social costs are high in the proliferation of POGOs,” she claimed.
The remarks come less than a week after PAGCOR chair Andrea Domingo pushed for the POGO industry to be allowed to restart. Domingo noted that the revenue PAGCOR was losing from the ECQ shutdown could be used to help the country fight the COVID-19 pandemic.
Unfortunately for PAGCOR, this new raid comes at a terrible time to their hopes of restarting the industry. With a mayor and the Vice President having new ammunition to put down the sector, and a recent attempt by China to show friendship to the country failing spectacularly, the public discourse is tilting heavily to one side.
But the only person who really matters to this decision is President Rodrigo Duterte. The president’s spokesperson has confirmed that the ECQ rules still bar POGOs from operating, but no new promise has been given to when they may resume operations.
