Cebu City finds no “disguised” offshore gaming operators in checks
Mayor Raymond Alvin Garcia says police have found no irregularities.
The Philippines.- Cebu City’s mayor, Raymond Alvin Garcia, has said that his government is complying with calls from Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) secretary Juanito Victor Remulla to investigate whether offshore gaming operations are disguising themselves as legitimate businesses.
Remulla had told chief executives to regularly check business establishments to ensure that they are not operating as illegal offshore gaming operators. Garcia said Cebu City had already established a task force led by the Cebu City Police Office and that conducted inspections had found no irregularities so far.
However, Garcia acknowledged the possibility that some operations might be concealed and emphasised the importance of strengthening intelligence efforts. “We should strengthen our intelligence gathering with the help of the National Bureau of Investigation and the Philippine National Police,” he said.
Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) director Winnie Quidato told the Senate Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations and Gender Equality that some offshore gaming operators continue operating in the country disguised as business process outsourcing (BPO) companies to evade the ban issued under Executive Order (EO) 74.
“The big offshore gaming companies that we have raided before or that existed before, we see them breaking down) into smaller groups. Some are even branding themselves now as BPOs,” Quidato told the panel during the last public hearing on illegal activities linked to offshore gaming operators. He said he hoped such “guerrilla offshore gaming operators” would not affect “the good image that BPOs have established in the country.”
See also: Philippine president says no new law needed following offshore gaming ban
Philippines senator urges DOLE to be proactive in revoking permits for foreign offshore gaming workers
Senator Sherwin Gatchalian has called on the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) to take proactive measures to cancel alien employment permits (AEPs) issued to offshore gaming workers. During discussions on the DOLE’s proposed budget for 2025, Gatchalian said: “Offshore gaming operators are morphing into something else so they could stay in the country and continue their scamming activities.
“We need a very proactive approach to cancel and eventually send these workers to their country of origin and we need the entire government machinery to work together to cut the legal basis for these individuals to stay in the Philippines.”
On November 5, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. issued Executive Order (EO) 74, ordering an immediate ban on offshore gaming. The order requires offshore gaming operators and related auxiliary and ancillary services with issued licences to wind up by December 3.
The DOLE reported that it had issued around 15,819 AEPs in 2024. However, since the president’s announcement of the ban, approximately 36,000 AEPs have been revoked. The DOLE said it is collaborating with the Bureau of Immigration (BI) to make sure working visas associated with offshore gaming-related activities are terminated, preventing foreign nationals from remaining in the country illegally.
