MANILA, Philippines — Ten of the 18 members of the Senate ways and means committee have signed the committee report recommending the ban of Philippine offshore gaming operators or POGOs, a development that Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian said could help maintain peace and order and sustain economic growth in the country.
Aside from Gatchalian, who chairs the panel, Senate President Pro-Tempore Loren Legarda, Senate Majority Leader Joel Villanueva, Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel III and Senators Ronald dela Rosa, Joseph Victor Ejercito, Grace Poe, Raffy Tulfo, Pia Cayetano and Risa Hontiveros also signed Committee Report No. 136.
Some senators indicated their intention to interpellate in the plenary.
Gatchalian said the committee report, which seeks to ban POGOs, would be reported out to the plenary for deliberation.
He added that senators would just deliberate the phase-out period, whether immediately or within three months, although he said he is personally calling for an immediate ban.
With the filing of the committee report, the senator said the country would realize sooner than later the removal of POGOs.
“This is an important step to curb the spread of crimes originating from certain POGO companies,” Gatchalian said in Filipino yesterday.
“It’s clear from the data that we have gathered in recent months that criminals are utilizing POGOs to engage in various crimes, including human trafficking, as well as various investments such as cryptocurrency and love scams,” he added.
In signing the committee report, Pimentel, Ejercito and Hontiveros said they would interpellate and introduce amendments. Cayetano said she would interpellate and Tulfo said he would seek amendment to include Philippine inland gaming operations and other forms of online gaming.
“For almost three years now, I have been calling for POGOs to be kicked out of the country,” Hontiveros said.
“So we fully support Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian in the committee report to ban POGOs forever. I have always believed that a total ban on POGO is right and just. I hope it gets through Congress soon. If we got anything out of it, it was nothing compared to the disaster they have caused. No one will regret it when we drive them out, finally,” she added.
The opposition senator stressed that POGOs only brought in the country crimes and lewdness against women.
“We ourselves in the Senate committee on women have investigated their involvement in prostitution, corruption, especially in the ‘pastillas scam,’ human trafficking and recently, that POGOs are also being equipped as legal cover for scam hubs,” she said.
Ejercito signed the committee report with marginal notes to clarify that he is “not for POGO and just wants to soften the impact of its cancellation by phase-out instead.”
“I am for a two- to three-year phase-out so as not to create a bad perception that the legislature made POGO legal only to withdraw after a few years abruptly. We would seek amendment,” he said. “The perception would be inconsistency in policies in the international community.”
The senator said he wants that legal POGOs to be given a phase-out period, but illegal ones, which are the cause of crimes, should be banned immediately.
“There has to be preparation for those who will be displaced to have alternative employment and businesses related to POGOs to find alternative markets or businesses, like real estate and others as well. Cancelling them abruptly might have consequences on various industries related to it,” he added.
Gatchalian noted that the impact of the phase-out of POGOs from the Philippine economy is not that significant, but the crimes related to POGOs, especially human trafficking and scams, damage the image and reputation of the country.
He said his fellow senators were apparently convinced to support the phase-out of POGO with the series of scam problems among Filipinos, saying that POGOs appear to be connected with scamming.
“POGOs (have) become front. The scams we see and POGOs are the same. As long as the POGOs (are) here, there is a scam going on. There is human trafficking going on,” he added.
Citing a report from the Philippine National Police (PNP), Gatchalian said the total number of victims of POGO-related crimes had already reached 4,355, of which a total of 903 perpetrators were recorded from January 2017 to June 30 this year.
Crimes committed in such incidents include human trafficking, forcible abduction, homicide, illegal detention, kidnapping-for-ransom, theft, robbery-extortion, serious physical injuries, swindling and grave coercion, according to the PNP.
Over the past months, Gatchalian had steadfastly advocated for the closure of POGOs, maintaining that any revenue derived from the industry is not worth the massive social costs associated with POGO-related crimes.