DILG secretary urges Philippine mayors to check for illegal offshore gaming operators
Jonvic Remulla urged mayors to regularly check businesses.
The Philippines.- Jesus Crispin Remulla, secretary of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), has called on mayors to regularly check business establishments to ensure that they are not operating as illegal offshore gaming operators.
During a Commission on Appointments hearing, Remulla said some illegal offshore gaming operators had applied for permits under the guise of running legitimate businesses such as resorts or restaurants.
He said the authority to issue, suspend, or revoke business and occupancy permits was a key tool in combating such illicit activities. Based on the Local Government Code of 1991, a mayor has the power to suspend or revoke licences and permits for any violation of the law.
Remulla noted an incident in Lapu-Lapu City, where an alleged restaurant was exposed as a front for offshore gaming operations.
He said: “The biggest disguise that they [offshore gaming operators] are going through now is that they are applying for resorts and restaurants. So it is in the power of the mayor to visit the establishments and make sure that what is going on is exactly what is intended.”
“It is really up to the mayors when they issue business permits, occupancy permits, they have to inspect the premises and to make sure that what is intended for is happening,” he added.
See also: PAOCC warns of former gaming workers running scam farms
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 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.
