EDITORIAL - Are POGOs still worth it?

Police recently raided a Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (POGO) facility in Angeles City, Pampanga, where some Chinese kidnap victims were held.

According to officials of the Anti-Kidnapping Group of the PNP, they raided the facility after receiving a report that a Chinese national had been kidnapped. However, when they arrived at the Lucky South 99 POGO facility they reported finding 42 other Chinese nationals reportedly being held against their will.

It is not yet clear if the POGO was actually a front for a kidnapping syndicate or if the kidnappings were a result of debts owed to the POGO, but what seems apparent is that the POGO facility was used to keep people against their will. If it was keeping those people because they owed money it also showed the operators of that facility were willing to break the law just to get what was owed.

In past editorials we already questioned how much POGOs were really contributing in taxes --that’s if they were-- considering how hard it was to trace how much they are actually earning. Also how hard some of them are to trace, period.

We also questioned who they really benefitted. Are they really hiring Filipinos or just importing their own workers from abroad? Are they exploiting our women?

Now the question regarding POGOs has become more serious. Are they --or at least some of them-- nothing more than fronts for criminal activities?

But something we asked back then still stands; are POGOs worth it? Worth the social and societal ills that gambling brings. Worth the risk that they can be used as criminal fronts?

Perhaps it’s time to take another look at POGOs. Perhaps it’s time to review how these POGOs are allowed to operate here. Who really own them. Who they really hire. If they are engaging in something else aside from providing gambling opportunities.

Considering how the new president isn’t yet kowtowing to China, unlike how the previous one readily did, this is the right time to bring these questions up.