{"id":777004144,"date":"2023-04-10T12:18:22","date_gmt":"2023-04-10T15:18:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/?p=777004144"},"modified":"2026-04-22T23:02:21","modified_gmt":"2026-04-23T02:02:21","slug":"philippines-senator-proposes-special-area-for-pogos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/philippines-senator-proposes-special-area-for-pogos","title":{"rendered":"Philippines senator proposes special area for POGOs"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Senator Ronald ‘Bato’ dela Rosa says online gambling companies should be made to operate in a controlled area in a bid to prevent crime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

The Philippines.- Senator Ronald ‘Bato’ dela Rosa<\/strong>, the chairman of the Philippine Senate’s Public Order and Dangerous Drugs Committee, has suggested that offshore gaming operators (POGOs) should be allowed to operate in a controlled area. A special area would be designated, similar to economic zones, but with the aim of preventing criminal activities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Interviewed by senate reporters via Zoom, dela Rosa, said he does not recommend an immediate ban on POGO operations<\/strong> but a gradual phasing out over the next one to three years. He suggested that allowing POGOs to operate in a controlled zone<\/strong> in the meantime would allow the government to closely monitor their activities and prevent crime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Senate Ways and Means Committee, chaired by Senator Sherwin Gatchalian, has recommended the immediate banning of POGOs due to cases of kidnappings, murder, coercion, illegal detentions and illegal possessions of firearms. The committee conducted public hearings to assess the effect of POGOs on the Philippine economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Currently, POGOs operate in several areas in Luzon<\/strong>, including Paranaque, Pasay, Cave, Pampanga, Tarlac, and Cagayan, according to the Manila Bulletin. Dela Rosa said that a resolution would be filed for a plenary debate <\/strong>to propose a collective decision on the conflicting recommendations of the two Senate committees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gatchalian calls for charges over POGOs auditor<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, Senator Gatchalian has called on the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp (PAGCOR) to hold officials accountable for commissioning an unqualified third-party to audit POGOs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gatchalian revealed in a panel investigation that Global ComRCI, submitted a false bank guarantee<\/a> from a financial institution that was unauthorised by the Philippine central bank. He said the government officials responsible should be charged to ensure accountability and help prevent future irregularities in government contracts.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Senator Ronald ‘Bato’ dela Rosa says online gambling companies should be made to operate in a controlled area in a bid to prevent crime.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":176,"featured_media":19174,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"is_press_release":false,"is_interview":false,"is_opinion":false,"focusai_summary":"Senator Ronald 'Bato' dela Rosa advocates for POGOs to operate within controlled economic zones, proposing a gradual phase-out over one to three years to mitigate criminal activities. This contrasts with Senator Sherwin Gatchalian's recommendation for an immediate ban due to associated crimes and his call for accountability from PAGCOR regarding an unqualified third-party auditor, Global ComRCI. The conflicting legislative proposals introduce significant regulatory uncertainty for the Philippine iGaming sector.","focusai_entities":"Ronald \u2018Bato\u2019 dela Rosa, Sherwin Gatchalian, Philippine Senate\u2019s Public Order and Dangerous Drugs Committee, Senate Ways and Means Committee, Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp (PAGCOR), Global ComRCI, Philippine central bank","focusai_location":"Philippines, Luzon, Paranaque, Pasay, Cave, Pampanga, Tarlac, Cagayan","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (0.9), regulator (1.0), compliance_legal (0.9), operator_casino (1.0), payments_fraud_aml (0.8), investor_analyst (0.9), supplier_vendor (0.8), journalist_researcher (1.0)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"POGO Economic Impact?","query":"What is the projected economic impact on the Philippine economy, including employment and tax revenues, if POGOs are gradually phased out versus an immediate ban?"},{"label":"Regulatory Framework Evolution?","query":"How would the proposed 'controlled area' model for POGOs integrate with existing regulatory compliance and governance frameworks, particularly concerning AML and responsible gambling protocols?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[156,158,16333],"tags":[23911,15789],"class_list":["post-777004144","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-regulation-news","category-slider-home","category-south-east-asia-news","tag-gambling-regulation","tag-pogos"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777004144","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=777004144"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777004144\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":777004164,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777004144\/revisions\/777004164"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19174"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=777004144"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=777004144"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=777004144"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}