{"id":777017108,"date":"2024-07-10T08:16:55","date_gmt":"2024-07-10T11:16:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/?p=777017108"},"modified":"2026-04-22T08:20:27","modified_gmt":"2026-04-22T11:20:27","slug":"philippine-government-still-to-decide-on-offshore-gaming-ban","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/philippine-government-still-to-decide-on-offshore-gaming-ban","title":{"rendered":"Philippine government still to decide on offshore gaming ban"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Socioeconomic planning secretary Arsenio Balisacan said the government is assessing how to soften the possible economic impact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

The Philippines.- Arsenio Balisacan<\/strong>, the Philippines’ socioeconomic planning secretary, has said the government has not yet made a decision on calls to ban offshore gambling operators but is exploring possible steps to soften the economic impact of any ban.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In previous statements, Balisacan had argued in favour of a ban<\/strong> as has finance secretary Ralph Recto<\/strong>. Labour secretary Bienvenido Laguesma<\/strong> said analysis is being carried out on the possible impact on unemployment. In June, he warned that\u00a0more than 22,000 workers\u00a0<\/strong>could face unemployment if the government bans offshore gaming operations.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

See also:<\/strong> PAOCC opposes designation of Alice Guo as state witness<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Chinese Embassy in Manila<\/strong> also called on the Philippines to prohibit offshore gaming operators<\/a>. In a statement, it said nearly 3,000 Chinese nationals had been implicated in crimes such as telecom fraud related to offshore gaming operators since 2018.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PAOCC official suggests phasing out offshore gaming operators<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Winston Casio<\/strong>, an official from the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC), has advocated for a phased approach to eliminating offshore gaming operators <\/strong>(previously called POGOS) instead of an immediate ban. He has suggested this would be more effective than an immediate ban but acknowledged that such decisions fall outside his jurisdiction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Currently, 42 offshore gaming operators operate legally in the Philippines, with one located in Kawit, Cavite, and the remainder in Metro Manila<\/strong>. Casio said the government had cancelled 298 licences but that many of these operators continued to function illegally in various regions, including Northern Luzon, Central Luzon, Calabarzon, Bicol, Mindanao and Central Visayas.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Socioeconomic planning secretary Arsenio Balisacan said the government is assessing how to soften the possible economic impact.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":176,"featured_media":17179,"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 government is evaluating the economic ramifications of a potential ban on offshore gaming operators (POGOs), with officials like Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan and Finance Secretary Ralph Recto advocating for it, while Labour Secretary Bienvenido Laguesma highlights potential job losses for over 22,000 workers. The Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) suggests a phased elimination, acknowledging the 42 legally operating POGOs and the challenge of 298 illegally continuing operations despite license cancellations.","focusai_entities":"Arsenio Balisacan, Ralph Recto, Bienvenido Laguesma, Winston Casio, Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission, PAOCC, Chinese Embassy in Manila","focusai_location":"Philippines, Kawit, Cavite, Metro Manila, Northern Luzon, Central Luzon, Calabarzon, Bicol, Mindanao, Central Visayas","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (1.0), regulator (1.0), compliance_legal (0.9), operator_casino (1.0), affiliate_publisher (0.7), product_ux (0.7), tech_data (0.7), marketing_crm (0.8), payments_fraud_aml (0.9), investor_analyst (1.0), supplier_vendor (1.0), journalist_researcher (1.0)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"Economic Impact Mitigation","query":"What specific economic diversification strategies is the Philippine government considering to offset the projected 22,000 job losses and potential revenue shortfalls from a POGO ban?"},{"label":"Regulatory Enforcement Efficacy","query":"Given the reported 298 cancelled licenses and continued illegal operations, what enhanced enforcement mechanisms and international cooperation frameworks are being developed to effectively curb illicit offshore gaming activities post-ban?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[154,158,16333],"tags":[15789],"class_list":["post-777017108","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-legislation-news","category-slider-home","category-south-east-asia-news","tag-pogos"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777017108","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=777017108"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777017108\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":777017124,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777017108\/revisions\/777017124"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17179"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=777017108"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=777017108"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=777017108"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}