To POGO or not to POGO --- that is the question --- a question that has evolved into a favorite conversation

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among members of the business community and assorted observers of the passing scene. Related concerns include
panicked observations about a perceived invasion by Chinese hordes overwhelming the country these days, aside from the
COVID-19, many of them have been brought here by POGO. What does POGO mean?

POGO stands for Philippine offshore gaming operator, conceptualized by Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp
or PAGCOR (not china) to enable the Philippines to capture a greater share of growing, yet previously unregulated, online
gaming pie. POGO must be registered and licensed by the PAGCOR, otherwise, they are considered illegal. They are
companies that provide online gambling services to foreigners, however, Filipino citizens, even those overseas, are not
allowed to play. It is one of the most important rules that they must abide, because the rules are clear in Section 3 of
Regulation 2 that the operator “shall not allow its gaming website to be accessed within the territory of the Philippines or in
territories where online gaming is prohibited” and “shall not allow placing of bets and paying of winnings to occur within
the territorial jurisdiction of the Philippines. Any violation of the rules and regulations set by PAGCOR will result in POGOs
having their licenses revoked. Think Poker, Blackjack, and Roulette, facilitated via an online medium, with a virtual dealer
being played by a woman wearing skimpy clothes on the screen. The woman and the large tech team support behind the
screen make up the POGO. The POGO business is a lucrative one, and the Philippines is an ideal haven for them to do
business, with mostly affluent mainland Chinese bettors enamored by gambling. In our country, they are able to run their
operations away from the frowning Chinese government’s interference since all types of gambling are illegal in China, so the
closest and cheapest alternative destination is the Philippines, where online gambling is legal and now regulated by
PAGCOR.

PAGCOR started the processing of license applications for POGOs in 2016 after it decided not to renew the license
of local online gambling firm PhilWeb in an effort to boost its revenue. POGOs now occupy nearly one million square meters
of office in Metro Manila.

There are a lot of Pros and Cons about this industry. POGOs have helped the Philippines in more ways than one,
they make us money, and lots of it. PAGCOR reported that, in their first year under the regulated body, Philippine offshore
gaming operators contributed P657 million in 2016. The agencies revenues shot up by 497.26% in 2017 when POGOs hit up
P3.924 billion. In 2018, POGOs contributed P7.367 billion, increasing 87.69% from the previous year. In 2019, according to
PAGCOR chairperson and CEO that its revenues would reach the P8 billion mark, so that means it would contribute P20
billion pesos to the economy within the span of just 3 years. They rent prime real estate, brings in loads of tourist from
china and also create thousands of jobs, POGOS also contribute to local economy by paying licensing fees and gaming taxes,
however, the emergence of this industry led to a surge of foreign nationals coming to Philippines for work, and prompted
concerns over the latter’s disadvantageous effect on the supposed priority given to Filipino workers, according also to
Defense Secretary Lorenzana, this industry might be a threat to National Security also because there are POGOs situated
near Senate, Headquarters of Armed Forces, the Navy and the Philippine National Police so it’s very easy for these people
to, maybe, shift their activities to spying. Mayor Abby Binay stopped on issuing license for new POGO applicants due to
recent spike in crimes involving Chinese working for POGOs wherein 4 POGO service providers operating illegally with 2
business establishments used as fronts for prostitution and one unsanitary restaurant and catering company, the PNP Drug
Enforcement Group also nabbed a Chinese National working for POGO caught up P2.5 billion worth of shabu in Makati. A
POGO franchise has been shut down also by the Bureau if Internal Revenue for failing to pay P114 million taxes for 2019.
Wilson Lee Flores, the media committee chair of the federation of commerce and industry and a real estate entrepreneur
told the ABS-CBN news that not all businessmen are comfortable in this industry since it is gambling which is a negative
business so it’s like condoning all these illegalities. Benjamin Diokno (Governor of the Central Bank) believes that the
contribution of POGos is exaggerated which is why he has commissioned a study to see what would be the potential impact
on the economy if POGOs were banned in the Philippines, and to his estimation, the industry only contributes a few billion
pesos in taxes and their real estate contribution is not that much but the risk of money laundering is too high for him to
ignore as governor of central bank. That’s why Senators have been exploring the possibility of banning POGOs for good,
saying that these companies bring more harm than good amid reported increase in prostitution, human trafficking, money
laundering and even kidnapping of foreign employees. Weighing the pros and cons of POGOs, I believes that it is better for
them to be banned in the Philippines.