POGO and ‘pok-pok’

In a small and gated residential village at the fringes of the central business district (CBD) in the Philippines’ premier and showcase city where we take pride in our modernity and where the most hardworking office workers eke out a living, small houses, apartments and high rises of all classes have sprouted to provide Filipinos a convenient abode near places of work.

It was demanded, not so much by convenience, but by necessity. Compelled by the failure of those brainiacs at the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority to come up with solutions for what afflicts the Traffic Capital of the World that does not verge on absurdity, the metropolis’ working class have decided to either move closer to work or have invested in two homes albeit both located in the same city and only, at most, 20 kilometers apart.

The early real estate boom of the past two decades was heavily dependent on and had been aggressively fueled by these property developments where neighboring residential villages saw increasing real estate values from the domestic demand. Where government might have been remiss in providing the structural requisites for gross domestic growth of the magnitude needed to start alleviating endemic poverty, the private sector charged on and took up the slack.

Note that in the previous administration when transportation in the metropolis worsened exponentially under a series of the most inept secretaries of Transportation ever, construction development, high-rise condominiums and residential subdivisions forged ahead.

Private sector construction activity went into a frenzy and since office space and housing development are traditional economic drivers critical to the GDP growth formula, productivity grew, catalyzed as it was with domestic investments.

What had originally been sprawling and stately homes within villages in the central business district as well as those strategically located in adjacent residential villages a short scoot and bike ride away were turned into multi-resident homes as three- to four-unit apartments were built alongside duplexes that rose to cater to the growing domestic demand for city dwellings.

As in any economic frenzy, surpluses grew and rent became cheaper. Soon a glut developed that needed new and latent demand.

The Filipino community at the residential village a stone’s throw from the CBD would however witness another systemic social change, this time perhaps an aberration, slowly unraveling — gambling. While the Philippine online gambling operator’s social and economic costs remain unquantified, there is no shortage of polemics on the issue of POGO.

The negative impacts are legion, ranging from sanitation issues to the non-payment of taxes, increased criminality, the proliferation of illegal drugs and illegal employment. The POGO phenomenon has however spawned a series of sub-industries from syndicates of fixers and operators who provide legitimate transportation and lodging services to food services that cater only to POGO that alarm Filipino residents in our once peaceful communities.

In that gated community neighbors have witnessed strange and curious goings on in the dead of night as busloads of foreign nationals are unloaded in rented apartments and homes. A ruckus is created as they are herded in. And within hours the cacophony increases as indoor construction activity, flickering lights and hammering sounds travel through the once silent night shattering the peace and tranquility. Such noises are ongoing. Throughout the day buses come in and out apparently bussing an army to and fro following at least three shifts within 24 hours.

In a nearby high-rise residential tower the building’s administrators, engineering crew and its security personnel know what’s going on and simply shrug off the inconvenience. It’s an offshoot of the POGO population among us. Apparently the demand for lodging is also being filled with foreign prostitutes who cater exclusively to this emerging market of gambling operators.