Attempts to ban Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs) continue to accelerate with the filing of House Bill 10525 on Tuesday.

The measure, filed by the progressive Makabayan bloc, seeks to revoke all licenses granted to POGOs and make its operations a predicate crime to money laundering and human trafficking offenses, with up to 10 years imprisonment and P10 million in fines.

It also prohibits agencies from issuing work permits and visas for purposes of offshore gaming and requires an annual compliance report from responsible agencies.

The filing of the bill came in the wake of reports linking the offshore gaming industry to a slew of criminal activities, the most recent of which was the of Baofu Land Development Inc. in Bamban, Tarlac, allegedly owned by suspended Mayor Alice Guo.

Baofu is a POGO operations compound hosting gaming operators Zun Yuan Technology and Hongsheng Gaming Technology Inc., raided by the authorities for alleged human trafficking, serious illegal detention, and fraudulent cryptocurrency investment operation.

“[Revenue from POGOs] would not compensate the social problems that it created,” said ACT Teachers Partylist Rep. France Castro, a member of the Makabayan bloc, in an interview on Tuesday.

The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (PAGCOR), which is responsible for the issuance of provisional licenses to POGOs, has opposed outlawing the controversial offshore gaming operators due to the high revenues it generated for the agency.

Data obtained by Albay Rep. Joey Salceda, chairperson of the House committee on ways and means, showed that PAGCOR collections from internet gaming licensees (IGLs), also known as POGOs, surged to P5.1 billion in 2023 from P2.99 billion in 2022.

The PAGCOR boasted its 2023 revenue despite a decrease in the number of licensees, from 158 in 2022 to 87 last year.

Last year’s revenue collection was only surpassed in 2019, the first full year of legalized IGL operations, with a collection of P7.96 billion from 298 licensees.

Salceda is also in objection to phasing out the entire POGO industry, but not the “bad and mediocre licensees.”

“In other words, we’re choosier about who we license, and we also collect more from each licensee,” the economist-lawmaker said.

Of about 100,000 total direct or indirect hires of IGLs, Filipinos outnumber foreign employees, numbering around 65,000.

“No one talks about it too much, but I think it deserves to be said: It was PAGCOR who made the first move to catch the illegal operations,” Salceda added.

In a separate interview on Tuesday, Surigao del Norte Rep. Ace Barbers prodded the PAGCOR to be stricter in enforcing its regulation citing unlicensed POGOs managed to evade the process but continues to operate.

“Unfortunately, someone comes to us with the same scheme, same personalities, perpetrators, but they are not registered and accredited with the PAGCOR,” Barbers said.

While Barbers admitted that shutting the door for POGO operations may definitely leave a dent in the yearly national budget, it is nothing compared to the social costs they have inflicted on the country.

“With the proliferation of POGO employees, POGO operations in the country, the negative outweighs the benefits that we are getting out of this industry,” he said. “So, it’s now high time to think twice and probably put a stop to this.”

POGO was legalized during the Duterte administration through Republic Act 11590.

Over the years, various bills calling to outlaw POGO have been filed in Congress.

In February, the House Games and Amusements Committee approved House Bill 5082, which aims to ban and label all POGO operations in the country as illegal.

A similar measure was filed in the Senate in May by Senator Win Gatchalian.