The government cannot haphazardly militate against Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators as to invariably call for closure, stoppage, outlawing, declaring illegal, or shutting down their operations. Absent "clear and present danger," there's no need for bureaucrats and politicians to circle the wagons.

POGOs have flourished during the former president's term. Early data from a "think-tank" of the House of Representatives profiling POGOs show a "projected income for full-year 2019 of P8 billion" — that despite a Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation moratorium on new POGO applications in August of that year.

There's no conceivable debate that POGOs — investment-wise — bring in a windfall of "application, processing and license fees." PAGCOR gets P17.85 million for an e-casino alone to secure a license to operate not to say performance/security bond of $300,000 held in trust by PAGCOR in case of drawdowns (i.e., penalties).

Aside from regulatory fees of two percent on the POGOS, there's a bundle more of accreditation fees for various types of service provisions like Customer Relations Service provider ($150,000), Live Studio and Streaming provider ($120,000), Gaming Software/Platform provider ($120,000), IT Support provider ($60,000), among others. All these account for some P700 million that PAGCOR in 2016 collected from POGOs in just four months, an income that increased significantly to P3.9 billion in 2017, following an increase in the number of approved licenses.

Given that POGOs are located within NCR (Makati, Pasay, Manila, Las Piñas, Mandaluyong, Parañaque and Quezon City), Pampanga, Olongapo City, Cavite, and Cebu per 2019 data, local economy in those regions indisputably benefitted. In revenues, some P6.4 billion were generated in 2019 and some P7.2 billion in 2020 that senators contemplate taxing them even more under Senate Bill 2232 filed last year to impose a five percent gaming tax on POGOs and 25 percent final withholding tax on its employees.

Today, the industry is under attack by politicians and bureaucrats quick to use it as a platform to call attention to issues like human trafficking, slavery, or justice. The rescue operations hardly mirror the claim of human trafficking, kidnappings, killings — except they found them as overstaying Chinese nationals.

Who is playing the "indiscretion game" if government would kill its milking cow? Some line agencies and the Senate seem concerned on the "high social cost" of said crimes purportedly traced at the industry's doorstep.