{"id":777018755,"date":"2024-09-04T08:37:07","date_gmt":"2024-09-04T11:37:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/?p=777018755"},"modified":"2026-04-22T06:28:33","modified_gmt":"2026-04-22T09:28:33","slug":"philippine-senator-urges-strict-enforcement-of-offshore-gaming-ban","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/philippine-senator-urges-strict-enforcement-of-offshore-gaming-ban","title":{"rendered":"Philippine senator urges strict enforcement of offshore gaming ban"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Senator Risa Hontiveros said operations must not be allowed to ‘rebrand’.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

The Philippines.- Senator Risa Hontiveros<\/strong> has urged law enforcement to be strict in imposing the ban on offshore gaming operators<\/a>\u00a0and not allow them to ‘rebrand’. She said there were reports offshore gaming operators could become call centres, remain in the special economic zone, and “other hocus-pocus”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hontiveros, who chairs the Senate Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations and Gender Equality and is leading hearings<\/a> on the illegal activities of offshore gaming operators, said she is determined to hold accountable officials who allowed the operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Philippine National Police (PNP) in Central Visayas has said that it will increase its monitoring of offshore gaming operators following a raid in a resort in Lapu-Lapu City that led to\u00a0the rescue of 162 people<\/a>. The raid on Saturday (August 31) at Tourist Garden Hotel in Barangay Agus followed a request from the Indonesian Embassy to rescue eight of its nationals.\u00a0Those rescued reportedly comprised 83 Chinese citizens, 70 Indonesians, two Taiwanese, six Burmese and a Malaysian.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

See also:<\/strong> PAGCOR to revoke offshore gaming worker permits by year-end<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Senator Risa Hontiveros said operations must not be allowed to ‘rebrand’.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":176,"featured_media":21187,"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 Risa Hontiveros is advocating for stringent enforcement of the ban on Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs), specifically cautioning against their attempts to rebrand into other business forms like call centers. This directive follows ongoing investigations into illegal activities and a recent law enforcement raid, underscoring the government's commitment to regulatory compliance and accountability within the sector. PAGCOR's impending revocation of POGO worker permits further signals a decisive shift in the regulatory landscape.","focusai_entities":"Risa Hontiveros, Senate Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations and Gender Equality, Philippine National Police, PNP, Indonesian Embassy, PAGCOR, Tourist Garden Hotel","focusai_location":"Philippines, Central Visayas, Lapu-Lapu City, Barangay Agus, Indonesia, Taiwan, Burma, Malaysia, China","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (0.9), regulator (1.0), compliance_legal (0.9), operator_casino (0.9), investor_analyst (0.9), supplier_vendor (0.8), journalist_researcher (0.9)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"POGO Rebranding Efficacy","query":"What specific legislative or executive measures are being considered to prevent POGO entities from circumventing the ban through corporate rebranding or operational restructuring into non-gaming verticals?"},{"label":"Regulatory Accountability Framework","query":"What governance frameworks will be implemented to ensure accountability for officials implicated in facilitating illegal offshore gaming operations, and what are the timelines for such investigations?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[439,16333],"tags":[20326],"class_list":["post-777018755","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-legal-news","category-south-east-asia-news","tag-illegal-gambling"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777018755","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=777018755"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777018755\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":777018762,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777018755\/revisions\/777018762"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21187"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=777018755"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=777018755"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=777018755"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}