{"id":777019636,"date":"2024-10-04T09:27:36","date_gmt":"2024-10-04T12:27:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/?p=777019636"},"modified":"2026-04-22T05:30:01","modified_gmt":"2026-04-22T08:30:01","slug":"illegal-gambling-in-the-philippines-200-arrested-in-raid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/illegal-gambling-in-the-philippines-200-arrested-in-raid","title":{"rendered":"Illegal gambling in the Philippines: 200 arrested in raid"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Police carried out a raid on an illegal offshore operator near the Senate building in Pasay City.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

The Philippines.- The Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) along with the National Bureau of Investigation and the Pasay police have arrested 200 people, including Chinese nationals, in a raid on an unlicensed offshore gaming operator in Pasay City, near the Senate building. According to PAOCC undersecretary Gilbert Cruz, the masterminds were among those arrested.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Senator Sherwin Gatchalian<\/strong> has praised the raid but urged authorities to work with local governments and relevant agencies to eliminate offshore gaming operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Having already violated the President’s order to stop the operation of POGOs, they even managed to operate it right behind the building of the Senate \u2013 the institution investigating the problems caused by POGOs,” he said. “Criminal syndicates continue to exploit POGO resources to fuel their fraudulent operations.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

See also: <\/strong>Philippines warns offshore gaming operators may move to Timor-Leste<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Philippines\u2019 BI says 3,000 foreign offshore gaming workers have left country<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The Bureau of Immigration (BI)<\/strong> reported on Saturday (September 28) that nearly 3,000 foreign workers employed by\u00a0offshore gaming operators\u00a0with downgraded visas have departed from the country. During a meeting of\u00a0the recently formed POGO Closure Task Force<\/a>, BI officer-in-charge commissioner\u00a0Joel Anthony Viado<\/strong> also reported that as of September 24, they have downgraded 5,955 visas. Of the total, approximately 55 per cent have already left the Philippines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Viado also said that, during the meeting, task force members agreed to conduct service days for offshore gaming companies, where they will implement their downgraded visa status and issue exit clearances. He also added that DOLE representatives would join them during service days to collect surrendered alien employment permits for offshore gaming workers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Police carried out a raid on an illegal offshore operator near the Senate building in Pasay City.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":176,"featured_media":777007112,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"is_press_release":false,"is_interview":false,"is_opinion":false,"focusai_summary":"Philippine authorities, including PAOCC and NBI, conducted a significant raid on an unlicensed offshore gaming operator in Pasay City, resulting in 200 arrests, including alleged masterminds. This enforcement action underscores the government's intensified crackdown on illegal POGOs, with the Bureau of Immigration simultaneously reporting the departure of nearly 3,000 foreign workers following visa downgrades as part of the POGO Closure Task Force's efforts.","focusai_entities":"Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC), National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), Pasay police, Gilbert Cruz, Sherwin Gatchalian, Bureau of Immigration (BI), POGO Closure Task Force, Joel Anthony Viado, Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE)","focusai_location":"Philippines, Pasay City, Timor-Leste","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (0.9), regulator (1.0), compliance_legal (1.0), operator_casino (0.8), payments_fraud_aml (0.7), investor_analyst (0.9), supplier_vendor (0.7), journalist_researcher (1.0)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"POGO Crackdown Impact","query":"What are the projected long-term economic and social impacts of the Philippines' intensified POGO crackdown on the nation's GGR, NGR, and employment figures, particularly concerning the potential relocation of operations to jurisdictions like Timor-Leste?"},{"label":"Regulatory Framework Efficacy","query":"How will the POGO Closure Task Force enhance inter-agency coordination and governance frameworks to prevent the resurgence of illegal offshore gaming operations, and what specific legislative reforms are being considered to strengthen B2B\/B2C licensing and regulatory compliance?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[439,16333],"tags":[4138],"class_list":["post-777019636","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-legal-news","category-south-east-asia-news","tag-online-gambling"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777019636","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=777019636"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777019636\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":777019646,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777019636\/revisions\/777019646"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/777007112"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=777019636"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=777019636"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=777019636"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}