Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr announced on Monday a ban on the formerly-named Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs).
During his third State of the Nation Address (pictured) since coming to power, Mr Marcos said POGOs, now known as “Internet Gaming Licensees” (IGLs), had “ventured into illicit areas furthest from gaming, such as financial scamming, money laundering, prostitution, human trafficking, kidnapping, brutal torture, even murder.”
He added: “The grave abuse and disrespect of our system must stop.”
“Effective today, all POGOs are banned,” stated the country’s leader. “I hereby instruct Pagcor [the country’s gaming regulator, the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp] to wind down and cease the operations of POGOs by the end of the year.”
The country’s president also called for the nation’s Department of Labor and Employment to help workers who will be displaced.
According to official data, a total of 25,064 Filipinos were employed by various POGOs as of the end of 2023, with about 22,000 in the Metro Manila region. Labor Secretary Bienvenido Laguesma said in June that his department was taking the necessary steps to be able to support affected workers in the event of any ban on offshore gaming operators.
GGRAsia approached Pagcor for comment, but had not received a reply at the time this story went online.
Finance Secretary Ralph Recto, and Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan, described by the news agency as key figures in the administration’s economic team, have supported the calls to ban POGOs, which the Philippine National News agency said mostly cater to clients from mainland China and employ a large number of Chinese-speaking foreign workers.
In April, the Chinese government said it was working with the Philippine authorities on matters linked to online gambling, with China asserting that Chinese people were “victims of offshore gambling”. The two countries have recently had strained relations in relation not only to offshore gambling operations, but also maritime territorial disputes.
Several Philippine lawmakers and business groups had also urged the president to impose a total ban on POGOs.
In July last year, Pagcor introduced new regulations for offshore operators. In May, the regulator converted 13 provisional IGL permits to full ones. As of July 16, there were 38 IGL permit holders allowed to offer gaming to customers offshore, and seven provisional licensees, according to Pagcor.
At the weekend, a former Supreme Court judge said Pagcor should never have licensed POGOs serving China, given that China banned gambling within its borders or aimed at its nationals, except land-based casino gambling in Macau
