PAGCOR chairman and CEO<\/a>, said: “The information we received is that these alarming incidents of kidnapping came from the ranks of illegal operators.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n“While it will be a challenge to all participating agencies, the good thing is that we are receiving information as to where these illegal operations are located. With the help of everybody, we will be able to zero in immediately.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tengco said that POGO operators have committed to policing their own ranks. He said: \u201cFirst,\u00a0they are now going to ask their people to contain themselves in an area for safety and security purposes<\/strong>. Second, they will come up with an updated list of their employees because some have already resigned.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n“Third, we will require them to submit a police clearance together with their application for an offshore gaming license employment (OGEL) ID. At least, those who apply, alam natin na malinis ang kanilang record.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If kidnappings and other illegal activities persist, Tengco said PAGCOR will cancel the licences of POGO operators and that the entire industry may be affected by action from national government. PNP chief Rodolfo Azurin<\/strong> stressed the importance of partnership with different government agencies, including local government units to deal with offenders.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\nHe requested POGO operators surrender their permits to carry firearms to the PNP and furnish updated information on foreign workers\u2019 employment permits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to Department of Justice Secretary\u00a0Jesus Crispin Remulla<\/strong>, who also attended the interagency meeting, the department, in coordination with the National Bureau of Investigation and the Bureau of Immigration, will execute summary deportation immediately for illegal foreign workers arrested in recent weeks and those responsible for kidnappings and related crimes.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe Philippines finance secretary wants rids of POGOs<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Benjamin Diokno<\/strong>, secretary of finance in The Philippines, has suggested that the country should abolish\u00a0Philippine offshore gaming operators<\/strong>\u00a0(POGOs). Speaking at a briefing by the Senate Development Budget Coordinating Committee on the 2023 state spending plan, he told senators that he saw the industry as a risk.<\/p>\n\n\n\nAccording to GMA network, he said: \u201cIf you ask my personal opinion on this, let\u2019s discontinue the POGO because of the social cost. It also has a reputational risk because people will ask, \u2018Why are they going to the Philippines? They were discontinued in China and Cambodia, why are they going to the Philippines?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Diokno said that with China and Cambodia having clamped down on online gaming operations, people may deem the Philippines to be too \u201cloose\u201d or \u201cnot strict\u201d with its rules.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The regulator has received reports of kidnappings related to POGOs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":176,"featured_media":26853,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"is_press_release":false,"is_interview":false,"is_opinion":false,"focusai_summary":"The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) is intensifying collaboration with law enforcement to address kidnappings linked to Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs), particularly those involving illegal entities. This comes amidst calls from the Finance Secretary to abolish the POGO industry due to social costs and reputational risks, with PAGCOR threatening license cancellations for non-compliant operators.","focusai_entities":"Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation, PAGCOR, Department of Interior and Local Government, DILG, Department of Justice, DOJ, Philippine National Police, PNP, National Bureau of Investigation, NBI, Alejandro Tengco, Rodolfo Azurin, Jesus Crispin Remulla, Benjamin Diokno, GMA network","focusai_location":"Philippines, China, Cambodia","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (0.95), regulator (1.0), compliance_legal (0.9), operator_casino (0.95), affiliate_publisher (0.7), payments_fraud_aml (0.75), investor_analyst (0.95), supplier_vendor (0.9), journalist_researcher (0.9)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"POGO Abolition Impact?","query":"What is the estimated economic impact on the Philippine economy and the iGaming supply chain if the POGO industry is fully abolished, considering tax revenues and employment?"},{"label":"Regulatory Enforcement Efficacy?","query":"How will PAGCOR and interagency efforts ensure effective enforcement against illegal POGO operators, and what specific metrics will be used to measure success in reducing related criminal activities?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[439,158,16333],"tags":[405,15789],"class_list":["post-33549","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-legal-news","category-slider-home","category-south-east-asia-news","tag-pagcor","tag-pogos"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33549","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/176"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33549"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33549\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33578,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33549\/revisions\/33578"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26853"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33549"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33549"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33549"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}