MANILA, Philippines (Updated 5:53 p.m.) — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. announced the ban of Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGO) during his third State of the Nation Address.
“Effective today, all POGOs are banned,” said Marcos.
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The declaration was met with cheers from members of Congress, with lawmakers rising to their feet and chanting "BBM! BBM!"
Marcos said that he heard the call of his countrymen clearly.
"Disguising as legitimate entities, their activities have ventured into illicit areas, furthest from gaming, such as financial scamming, money laundering, prostitution, human trafficking, kidnapping, brutal torture, and murder," Marcos said.
The president called POGOs a grave abuse of Philippine law, saying that this must stop.
Marcos gave the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation a tight deadline to wind down the controversial POGO activities by the end of the year.
"I hereby instruct PAGCOR (Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation) to wind down and cease the operation of POGOs by the end of the year," he said to an approving crowd.
In addition to this, Marcos ordered the Department of Labor and Employment will help look for new jobs for Filipinos affected by the banning.
POGOs have seemingly opened the gateway to criminal activities in the Philippines, with numerous raids finding evidence of human trafficking, prostitution, torture and more.
Pressure on Marcos to ban POGOs has been increasing in recent months, especially after the Senate investigation has exposed several other issues— from fake birth certificates being bought by foreign nationals to suspended Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo being suspected as a Chinese spy.
Senators Sherwin Gatchalian, Risa Hontiveros and Aquilino Pimentel III have all urged Marcos to ban POGOs.
Both the Department of Finance (DOF) and the National Economic and Development Authority have backed the banning of POGOs. The DOF has said that allowing POGOs to proliferate is costing the Philippines around P99.5 billion a year.