{"id":325919,"date":"2024-07-23T09:17:16","date_gmt":"2024-07-23T14:17:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=325919"},"modified":"2024-07-23T09:28:38","modified_gmt":"2024-07-23T14:28:38","slug":"philippines-bans-3b-pogo-industry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/philippines-bans-3b-pogo-industry\/","title":{"rendered":"Philippines Bans $3B POGO Industry"},"content":{"rendered":"

Efforts are underway to dismantle the Philippines’ online gambling — or POGO<\/a> — industry after President Ferdinand \u201cBongbong\u201d Marcos Jr. announced Tuesday its total ban, \u201ceffective immediately.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"POGO,
Philippine President Bongbong Marcos, lower middle, said the POGO industry\u2019s \u201cdisrespect to our system of laws must stop,\u201d during his State of the Nation address on Tuesday. (Image: Inquirer)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The POGO (Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator) sector is largely dominated by Chinese nationals. It thrived under former president Rodrigo Duterte, who was content to license and tax the POGOs provided they didn\u2019t take bets from Philippine citizens. Instead, they target China, where all forms of online gambling are illegal.<\/p>\n

Crime and Espionage<\/strong><\/h2>\n

There’s been increasing anxiety about the industry in the Philippines. Many POGOs been found to have trafficked workers to toil in hidden scam centers as virtual slaves. And, at a time of heightened tensions between Manila and Beijing over disputed territories in the South China Sea, there are concerns the POGOs represent a potential threat to national security.<\/p>\n

The ban comes amid an ongoing Senate investigation into the industry and links to organized crime. The investigation has focused on the identity and activities of Alice Guo<\/a>, a small-town mayor who has been accused of being a Chinese spy involved in human trafficking via her connections to a local POGO.<\/p>\n

Disguising as legitimate entities, their operations have ventured into illicit areas furthest from gaming, such as financial scamming, money laundering, prostitution, human trafficking, kidnapping, brutal torture \u2013 even murder. The grave abuse and disrespect to our system of laws must stop,\u201d Marcos told lawmakers to a standing ovation during his annual State of the Nation address.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

There are\u00a046 licensed POGOs in the Philippines and maybe as many as 400 unlicensed outfits, according to government estimates. On Tuesday, the gaming regulator, PAGCOR, said it would begin annulling licenses. Marcos said he wants a complete shutdown of the sector by the end of the year.<\/p>\n

The POGOs are estimated to employ 40K people directly and indirectly. The regulated industry generates an estimated 166.5bn pesos (US$2.9bn) of revenue a year.<\/p>\n

Workers Rescued <\/strong><\/h2>\n

In March, more than 800 Filipinos, Chinese, and other nationals were rescued from a scam center posing as a POGO about 70 miles north of Manila.<\/p>\n

\n

In June, 150 Chinese nationals were freed after police raided a POGO compound in Porac, Pampanga province, where torture devices were also discovered.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Over 4,000 POGO-linked crimes — including kidnapping and murder — were reported between 2017 and 2023, according to police data.<\/p>\n

Incredibly, police have also uncovered underground hospitals<\/a> based inside POGO compounds. These are used to treat trafficked workers and to\u00a0provide cosmetic alterations to fugitives to help them evade capture, according to authorities.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Efforts are underway to dismantle the Philippines’ online gambling — or POGO — industry after President Ferdinand \u201cBongbong\u201d Marcos Jr. announced Tuesday its total ban, \u201ceffective immediately.\u201d The POGO (Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator) sector is largely dominated by Chinese nationals. It thrived under former president Rodrigo Duterte, who was content to license and tax the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":325920,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[69069,21,19,88702],"tags":[82064,91774,83353,13520,82836],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nPhilippines Bans $3B POGO Industry<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Philippine President Bongbong Marcos orders the POGO industry to be dismantled and shut down amid fears of crime and espionage.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/philippines-bans-3b-pogo-industry\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Philippines Bans $3B POGO Industry\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Philippine President Bongbong Marcos orders the POGO industry to be dismantled and shut down amid fears of crime and espionage.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/philippines-bans-3b-pogo-industry\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-07-23T14:17:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-07-23T14:28:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Bongbong.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"675\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@casinoorgphilc\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/philippines-bans-3b-pogo-industry\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/philippines-bans-3b-pogo-industry\/\",\"name\":\"Philippines Bans $3B POGO Industry\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/philippines-bans-3b-pogo-industry\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/philippines-bans-3b-pogo-industry\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Bongbong.jpeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-07-23T14:17:16+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-07-23T14:28:38+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b\"},\"description\":\"Philippine President Bongbong Marcos orders the POGO industry to be dismantled and shut down amid fears of crime and espionage.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/philippines-bans-3b-pogo-industry\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/philippines-bans-3b-pogo-industry\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/philippines-bans-3b-pogo-industry\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Bongbong.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Bongbong.jpeg\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":675,\"caption\":\"Philippine President Bongbong Marcos, lower middle, said the POGO industry\u2019s \u201cdisrespect to our system of laws must stop,\u201d during his State of the Nation address on Tuesday. 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