Cong. Salceda Says Outright POGO Ban Not the Solution

Cong. Joey Sarte Salceda, head of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee which identifies revenues for the government, said that an outright POGO or Philippine Offshore Gaming Operations ban is not the solution to the problem of the proliferation of criminal syndicates in the business.

Salceda believes that PAGCOR has successfully implemented a regulatory approach towards POGOs. I Photo: House of Representatives Facebook

Salceda believes that the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) has successfully implemented a regulatory approach by changing the rules for these offshore gaming sites to comply with stringent requirements.

An outright ban on POGOs would undermine the regulatory efforts that PAGCOR has made and would incentivize illegal operations, he admonished.

Even if POGOs were banned, criminal syndicates would persist with their illegal activities, similar to the banning of e-sabong in 2022, which resulted in unregistered sites mushrooming, consequently depriving the government of revenues.

The Albay congressman said that PAGCOR Chairman Alejandro Tengco has done remarkable work in pushing for regulatory reforms that have led to increased revenues for the government.

According to Salceda, PAGCOR has crafted an entirely new playbook for POGOs, changing their nomenclature to Internet Gaming Licenses (IGLs).

These new rules require operators to register with PAGCOR, which then monitors the licensees and ensures the government receives the revenues, an endeavor with which the regulator has been successful.

The Albay representative added that last year the offshore gaming licensees brought in P51 billion for the government with just 87 licensees compared to a mere P2.9 billion collected from 158 POGO operators in 2022.

“The government should not introduce a POGO ban. Period,” Salceda asserted, stating that a POGO ban “will kill any inducement to good behavior in that sector. It will also completely wipe out the incentive for legally compliant licensees to tip off the illegal operations of non-compliant competitors.”

Salceda underscored the importance of tax-compliant companies reporting illegal activities within their industries. This is the reason why PAGCOR was able to raid, in tandem with the police, the illegal POGOs, he added.

He mentioned that in “the tobacco sector, a lot of the tips on smuggling and illicit trade come from tax-compliant companies. The same is true for POGOs. It’s a bad idea to even contemplate a total ban,” Salceda added.

“Even if you ban POGOs completely, you will continue to face the kinds of problems that cause any illegal foreign operations of any kind here: porous immigration, poorly-equipped intelligence and infiltration capabilities, and law enforcement that does not speak Chinese,” he said.

Salceda also praised Chairman Tengco’s push for regulatory reform which has led to raids on illegal POGO operations. He added that revenues should be funneled to funding police operations to stop illegal POGO activities.