EDITORIAL - Guerrilla POGO operations

It’s been nearly two months since the total ban ordered by President Marcos on Philippine offshore gaming operations and local POGO copycat the internet gaming licensee went into effect. Yet hundreds of foreigners and Filipinos continue to be caught in raids on POGO and IGL-type establishments.

The raids are being conducted mostly by the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission and the National Bureau of Investigation. Before the total ban took effect, the PAOCC had said the POGOs had splintered and shifted to “guerrilla-type” operations. PAOCC officials have said that Filipinos, who learned the ropes from the Chinese nationals who operated the POGOs, have taken over the industry, which has been linked to various types of cyberscams.

PAOCC officials also noted that the POGO operations were being concealed through registered business fronts such as restaurants and bars. Other operations were done in private condominium units and houses, the officials said.

The PAOCC reiterated its earlier lament about the role of local government units in the proliferation of scam hubs. This sentiment was raised by PAOCC officials following the raids on POGO hubs in Bamban, Tarlac and in Porac, Pampanga, which led to the ouster of Alice Guo as Bamban mayor and her indictment for multiple offenses including faking her Philippine citizenship.

Other local officials are being probed by the PAOCC for possible coddling of POGO-linked illegal activities. Following recent raids after the ban took effect, the PAOCC is coordinating with the Department of Justice and Department of the Interior and Local Government for the possible filing of complaints against local officials.

If city or municipal governments cannot keep a close watch on illegal POGO activities, barangay officials should be able to do so. Barangays are the smallest units of government, and their officials should be familiar with their areas of jurisdiction. Apart from council members, the barangays have tanods who are supposed to serve as force multipliers of the police in maintaining peace and order. Village officials are tasked to deliver services at the grassroots, and should have greater familiarity with their respective communities than city hall.

Immigration officials count over 11,000 foreign POGO workers who continue to defy the order of the Philippine government to leave the country following the total ban on offshore gaming. Such foreigners need local protectors to continue staying illegally in the Philippines. Law enforcement agencies must go after public officials and employees who willfully protect or fail to detect illegal offshore gaming operations and scam hubs in their midst.