PAOCC: Banned POGOs go underground

The Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) said on Tuesday that legal Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO) and Internet Gaming Licensees (IGL) have been complying with the order of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to cease operations by the end of the year.

According to PAOCC spokesperson Winston Casio, there are 37 to 38 IGLs currently operating but these are not causing any problems as they are closing shop.

Since Marcos declared a ban on all POGOs in his third State of the Nation Address (SoNA), Casio said all POGOs have been deemed illegal but recently similar operations have been popping up with some now being operated by Filipinos.

“Our real problem is those that are really illegal from the get-go — from the very beginning they were really illegal, they were already underground. That is our problem now because we are chasing them all over the country,” Casio said in a televised interview.

Casio estimated there were between 50 to more than 100 illegal POGOs operating.

“Once there were hundreds, thousands of employees [that have now] disintegrated into smaller units so operations have increased even more,” Casio explained.

Meanwhile, Casio called on other government agencies for help in cracking down on illegal POGO operations.

“All we need is the proactive assistance of the different agencies of the executive branch together with the LGUs. When we get together, it is possible that we can handle it,” he said.