PAGCOR Says Ex-Cabinet Official Trying To Intercede For POGOs

The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) has announced that a former high-ranking government official attempted to facilitate the issuance of gaming licenses to some of the illegal Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs) that have recently been raided and found to be involved in illegal activities.

There is a pressing need for those investigating the suspicious activities of former POGO licensees to also examine the role of past officials and their intermediaries in granting licenses to POGO applicants with questionable backgrounds.

PAGCOR Chairman and CEO Alejandro Tengco highlighted the need for those investigating the suspicious activities of former POGO licensees to also examine the role of past officials and their intermediaries in granting licenses to POGO applicants with questionable backgrounds.

Chairman Tengco stated that he will disclose the identity of the former Cabinet member who has been lobbying for the illegal POGOs in an appropriate forum. He also plans to reveal the circumstances that led to the spread of illegal and criminal offshore gaming operations.

“As a regulator, it is our mandate to ensure that only those with valid licenses are allowed to operate all forms of gambling and gaming activities, whether these are land-based casinos or online platforms,” Tengco said.

“It is in the interest of the government to crack the whip against illegal operators, including the so-called offshore gaming operators or POGOs and their backers, because the criminal activities associated with their illegal operations pose serious threats to our people,” he added.

Chairman Tengco explained that the current administration has been actively working to eliminate illegal operators, resulting in a significant reduction in the number of licensees from 298 during the previous administration to only 43 licensees now.

“What we need to question, in the first place, was how those 298 POGO licensees were able to secure their licenses in the past because clearly, during our cleansing process, we found most of them to be ineligible and outright suspicious,” Tengco said.

“We are also ready to reveal the roles of other controversial individuals behind these criminal POGO enterprises,” he concluded.