200 illegal POGOs still operating — PAOCC
MANILA, Philippines — There are still around 200 illegal Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs) operating in the Philippines, the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) said on Friday, September 6.
It has been more than one month since President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. declared the ban on POGOs during the third State of the Nation Address. The president ordered the winding down of POGO operations within six months.
However, the PAOCC said that up to hundreds are still operating.
“Hindi ko lang alam ang exact number sa ngayon but siguro sabihin natin mga nasa 200 pa po,” PAOCC Executive Director Undersecretary Gilbert Cruz said on DZBB.
(I do not know the exact number but for now, we can say that there are maybe 200.)
Cruz said that many POGOs have already been closed down but there are still underground operations.
“'Yung iba ginawa nilang maliliit nalang, Yung dating isang hub, ginawa nilang isang floor nalang sa isang building,” Cruz said.
(The others downscaled. There was this one hub, they just turned it into a floor on a building.)
The government has deported around 2,000 POGO workers. Cruz said that a hefty amount has gone to caring from them, from feeding them and providing medical aid.
The Philippine government is also caring for the care of some of the children they left behind in the country, since some of them had relations with locals.
Cruz also said that they are currently in the process of deporting 87 Chinese nationals, but have yet to return them to Beijing.
“Kasi po, sa China po, ‘pag nag-deport kami, hindi nila tinatrato na mga biktima yan. Tinatrato nila mga POGO… oo mga kriminal,” Cruz said.
(Because in China, when we deport them, they are not treated as victims. They are treated as POGO… yes, criminals.)
Cruz clarified that the Philippine government is not spending for this batch of Chinese nationals, but the Chinese Embassy has already offered to shoulder the expenses for them.
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