The Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) is monitoring the potential movement of illegal Philippine Offshore Gaming Operations (POGO) in Visayas and Mindanao.
In an interview, PAOCC Undersecretary Gilbert Cruz stated that they are observing activities in the Visayas, as reports indicate that POGO operations have moved out of Luzon. He noted that some of these POGO operators originated from Porac, Pampanga, where Cassandra Li Ong was discovered.
“The others who escaped there, based on our monitoring, fled to the Visayas and Mindanao. But we mostly see them in the Visayas,” he said.
PAOCC has also received reports of illegal POGO setups in areas like Cebu and Cagayan de Oro. Most of these underground POGO operations involve smaller groups, as they only require an internet connection. As a response, the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) has tasked local chief executives to be vigilant for any suspicious activities in their areas.
“The coordination between us and Secretary Jonvic Remulla, and of course, the DOJ, is effective because they are helping us file cases against these POGO operations,” Cruz said.
He added that smaller POGO groups typically consist of 20 to 50 individuals, who rent apartment spaces to establish scamming operations. Cruz explained that some foreigners are still linked to POGOs, with Filipinos acting as keyboard operators.
“If they are specifically targeting Vietnamese, Malaysian, or Indonesian nationals, they need individuals who speak those languages. So right now, they are still using foreign nationals, and those foreign nationals are leading these small-scale POGO operations, while Filipinos serve as the keyboard operators,” he said.
Cruz also mentioned that some of these operations operate under the guise of call centers.
“What they want is to hide behind legitimate businesses that involve internet use, like call centers. A mayor I spoke to mentioned that someone asked for permission to build a call center. He agreed, but then he was surprised when two trucks carrying equipment — computers, cables, office furniture — arrived. So, he had doubts and reported it to me,” he said.
Meanwhile, Cruz noted that out of 400 POGO operations they are monitoring, 80 percent have complied with the government’s order to cease operations.
“Just because they stopped doesn’t mean they stopped entirely. What we're after is these are small-scale operations,” he explained.
He added that this year, they may compile data on how many POGO operations have been shut down, to determine how many more they need to crack down on.
In 2024, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. ordered the revocation of licenses related to POGO, including Internet Gaming Licenses (IGL), and imposed a total ban on POGOs in the country by the end of December.
Currently, there are more than 400 POGO workers detained for violating immigration laws. Earlier, the Bureau of Immigration began deporting foreign POGO workers, with some opting to downgrade their visas to tourist visas before leaving the country.