Lawmakers on Friday urged Malacañang to ban Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators or POGOs, to ensure tighter national security.
In a Senate hearing on the proliferation of scam hubs in the Philippines on Friday, Senator Risa Hontiveros expressed grave concern over the government identification cards such as the TIN ID, PhilHealth ID, Alien Certificate of Registration, Alien Employment Permit, and Police Clearance ID which had been fraudulently obtained by Chinese nationals working in a recently raided Smart Web Technology company in Pasay City.
Hontiveros noted how the Chinese appeared to have easy access to such IDs without needing to stand in long queues and undergo the processes required of Filipino citizens.
"They also said that acquiring these IDs was their way of becoming legal residents of the Philippines and obtaining Philippine passports," she said in Filipino. "What's alarming is they might have accomplices in government agencies."
Considering the increasing tensions between Beijing and Manila in the West Philippine Sea, Hontiveros said it is also alarming that the government "is giving all-access passes" to Chinese citizens through these POGO hubs.
Hontiveros called on President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to immediately ban POGO operations, particularly those involved in illegal activities and criminality.
"The President should ban the POGOs. If he really wants to defend our country against those who abuse our sovereignty, he should include those involved in gambling and kick them out," she added.
Backing Hontiveros' call, Senator Win Gatchalian lamented that criminal activities attributed to POGOs have significantly increased, stressing that the government should see this as an alarming issue.
Gatchalian also slammed the involvement of POGO operators in online scamming activities and their links to well-organized criminal syndicates.
"We can see that there is a failure in regulation, and because there is a failure in regulation, we are now the victims of these syndicates," he said.
POGO operations, Gatchalian said, have been banned in many other countries, and the Philippines should follow suit.
"Because we are the only one left here, the syndicates come and victimize not only foreigners but our own countrymen. What I fear is that it will get worse and worse, and more of our countrymen will become victims," he added.
The Senate Committee on Ways and Means, chaired by Gatchalian, had earlier recommended the gradual phase-out and eventual termination of POGO operations nationwide, with 10 of the 18 members of the committee signing the report.
Among the signatories were Senators Ronald dela Rosa, Pia Cayetano, JV Ejercito, Raffy Tulfo, Grace Poe, Risa Hontiveros, Loren Legarda, Joel Villanueva, Aquilino Pimentel III and Hontiveros.
The committee report cited the industry's negative social impact in communities where they are located, including the commission of POGO-related crimes such as kidnapping, serious illegal detention, human trafficking, money laundering, forcible abductions, homicide, theft, robbery extortion, serious physical injuries, swindling, grave coercion, and converting POGO firms to scam hubs, among others.
Likewise, previous panel investigations on POGO operations revealed that fugitives from other countries could enter the Philippines through the POGO companies.
Phl IDs to foreign nationals
Moreover, Hontiveros said she found it "very problematic" that the government can easily provide Philippine IDs to foreign nationals.
"These IDs legitimize their status here in the Philippines. The problem is that we might be providing IDs to fugitives from other countries," she said, noting that such incidents had been reported in the past.
Also, the senator raised the alarm over the falsification of Filipino birth certificates being produced for Chinese citizens, which they can use to apply for Philippine passports.
"If their only motive is to work, they can do so by applying for alien employment permits. Why the need to cover up their nationality to become Filipino? This makes us ask: are POGOs being used as conduits to allow enemy forces and their spies into our country?