POGO tax take to improve, still far from expectations

MANILA, Philippines — The government is expected to collect higher revenues from Philippine offshore gaming operations (POGO) this year as the economy continues to reopen, but such tax take is barely a quarter of what is expected from the industry.

At a briefing yesterday, the Association of Service Providers and POGOs (ASPAP) said the industry is expecting to contribute P6 billion to P7 billion in taxes this year.

If realized, this is an improvement from the P3.91 billion from last year.

Data from the Bureau of Internal Revenue showed that collections as of end-August had reached P4.48 billion.

Despite the expected increase, this remains a far cry or just about 20 percent of the P32 billion in taxes expected with the POGO law.

This developed as the government as well as several lawmakers continue to push for the industry’s shutdown following increasing crime incidents.

ASPAP representative Paul Bongco said the POGO sector is appealing to the government to weigh out and determine the economic contributions, including the potential loss of jobs in the industry.

Bongco, however, warned that if the government could not concretize its plans for the industry, other plans of the sector would be put on hold and have impact on its return to pre-pandemic levels.

ASPAP maintained that it supports the government’s crackdown on illegal POGOs, saying the industry has the resources to help in determining the legitimate ones from those that are not.

Bongco admitted that the association has no contingency plan yet should the government push through with its move to stop all POGOs.

“Right now, we have yet to think about it. But whatever the law will decide, we are willing to follow,” he said.

“We will abide by the better judgment of the government,” he added.

Meanwhile, ASPAP said some 23,000 Filipinos stand to lose their jobs if the government shuts down all POGOs.

Of the 34 approved POGOs in the country as of last month, 16 are members of ASPAP.

Mass deportation

A key official of the House of Representatives has cautioned the Bureau of Immigration (BI) about its reported mass deportation of illegal Chinese workers in POGOs, saying there is a process for infractions committed by aliens.

“Any arbitrary law against undocumented workers here in the Philippines will reflect poorly on us and will undermine the welfare of undocumented workers among our own compatriots,” Albay Rep. Joey Salceda said.

“So, let us allow the law to take its course, consistent with humanitarian considerations and international laws and convention,” he added.

Salceda, who chairs the House ways and means committee, made the pronouncements in light of the data that showed there could be as many as 300,000 undocumented overseas Filipino workers in the United States, at least 30,000 in the Netherlands, some 80,000 in Italy and as many as 300,000 in Saudi Arabia.

“As I have repeatedly asserted, let’s just follow the law as is. We have enough laws to deport illegal workers. We have enough laws to protect people from human trafficking. Let them operate to the fullest extent,” he said.

The Bicolano legislator earlier warned that banning POGOs would drive the industry and its workers underground.

“So these illegal workers will all the more make themselves illegal – they will go underground – and you will just worsen the so-called social cost of POGOs,” he said.

Reps. Robert Ace Barbers of Surigao del Norte and Janette Garin of Iloilo have called for a total ban of POGOs in the country, citing social costs to the populace in general and noting that their presence has only resulted in the proliferation of several crimes.

“I’m not saying all, but as I have observed, POGOs seemed to be the root of evil that created all vices and crimes here in our country, like kidnap-for-ransom, prostitution, murder, extortion, illegal drugs, money laundering,” Barbers said.

“There are also reports about online scamming, such as phishing and e-mail spoofing, human trafficking, graft and corruption and many others,” he added.

Garin, a former secretary of the Department of Health, wants POGOs shut down.

“Now that we are opening up our economy and kidnapping and human trafficking headlining our daily news, it is driving away investors, considering that it’s creating misinformation that the Philippines is not safe,” she said.

The doctor-legislator also pointed out the angle of victims of human trafficking.

“It has become a door to several crimes. POGO hubs have become havens for undesirable aliens, drug and human trafficking, prostitution and other crime syndicates for money laundering and illicit operations,” she said.

“China and Cambodia have banned gambling because of the ill-effects it had brought, and the Philippines should learn from their experience: we should not disregard the negative and deleterious effects that have risen with the continued operation of POGO in our country.”

Visas canceled

Meanwhile, nearly 2,000 visas of Chinese workers of shuttered POGOs have been canceled by the BI as the government prepares to cancel all 48,782 visas before the month ends, according to the Department of Justice (DOJ).

“I got a report this morning that almost 2,000 visas were already canceled, and together with the cancellation of visas, there’s already an order to make them leave the country within 60 days,” DOJ spokesman Mico Clavano told reporters yesterday.

Clavano said the DOJ is targeting the cancellation of all Chinese POGO worker visas before the month ends in a bid to send them all home before the year ends.

The government earlier adopted a “more humanitarian” approach than mass arrests and deportations by instead implementing mass visa cancellations.

Under the new approach, Chinese workers of shuttered POGO firms will be given 60 days to leave the country.

Asked whether the BI and the DOJ will allow workers who are subject to visa cancellation to apply for employment in other legal POGO firms, Clavano said they are still studying the possibility.

“That is something that we are studying with the BI because there have been some requests to do that, although the process is not clear yet. So I would say that is on the table, but the clear policy direction will have to come from the BI,” he added.

Meanwhile, those who have already been given 60 days to leave the country should comply, according to the DOJ official, as he stressed how the government would not have any more “mockery” dealt to the justice and law enforcement system of the Philippines.

“Please, just follow the order to leave the country within 60 days. This issue has been hounding us, and we don’t like that the reputation of our country is at stake because what is happening is it’s becoming a mockery to our justice system and law enforcement that the crimes that they commit are too scandalous,” Clavano said.

“We really want peace and order in the country and this crackdown, I believe, is a step toward achieving that… We want to clean up and ensure no criminal activities are being committed in the POGO industry,” he added.

The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. earlier canceled the permits of 175 POGO companies following the string of POGO-related crimes, such as kidnapping, murder and prostitution, whose victims and perpetrators are commonly Chinese. – Delon Porcalla, Neil Jayson Servallos