{"id":777019808,"date":"2024-10-11T09:26:54","date_gmt":"2024-10-11T12:26:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/?p=777019808"},"modified":"2026-04-22T05:14:56","modified_gmt":"2026-04-22T08:14:56","slug":"illegal-gambling-in-the-phillippines-paocc-says-raided-venues-could-be-repurposed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/illegal-gambling-in-the-phillippines-paocc-says-raided-venues-could-be-repurposed","title":{"rendered":"Illegal gambling in the Phillippines: PAOCC says raided venues could be repurposed"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Presidential Anti-Organized\u00a0Crime Commission says offshore gaming operator hubs raided in Porac and Bamban could be converted into schools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Philippines.- <strong>The Philippine Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC)<\/strong> is exploring the possibility of repurposing offshore gaming operators hubs raided in Porac, Pampanga and Bamban, Tarlac. That could include their use as schools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Gilbert Cruz<\/strong>, the executive director of PAOCC, said the properties of<strong> Lucky South 99 <\/strong>and <strong>Zun Yuan Technology<\/strong>, in Porac and Bamban respectively, are under consideration for forfeiture in favour of the government. Cruz mentioned that a raided offshore gaming operator hub in Pasay City had been transformed into a detention facility and rescue centre.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/philippines-senator-calls-for-probe-into-offshore-gaming-operator-after-raid\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Zun Yuan Technology<\/a> was raided in March following reports of criminal activities such as human trafficking and murder. It has been associated with <strong>Alice Guo<\/strong>,&nbsp;the suspended mayor of Bamban, Tarlac. Guo faces allegations related to illegal offshore gaming operators and her citizenship status. The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC), and the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) have filed <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/alice-guo-could-face-560-year-sentence\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">87 counts of money laundering charges<\/a> against her and 35 others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In June, <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/187-people-rescued-from-gaming-operation-in-the-philippines\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Lucky South 99 was raided<\/a> by the PAOCC over similar criminal complaints. According to PAOCC spokesman Winston John Casio, there are still 58 to 200 offshore gaming operators working in the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed aligncenter is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe title=\"Raided Pogo hubs to be reused as schools, gov\u2019t buildings - PAOCC | INQToday\" width=\"625\" height=\"352\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/SBorr7qzJF0?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Inquirer.net<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">New interior secretary vows to shut all offshore gaming operators by year-end<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The recently appointed Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) secretary&nbsp;<strong>Jonvic Remulla<\/strong>&nbsp;has said he will ensure the closure of all offshore gaming operators by year-end as ordered by&nbsp;<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/philippine-president-orders-ban-on-offshore-gaming-operators\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">President Ferdinand Marcos Jr<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Speaking to journalists on Tuesday (October 9), he said he would start by closing operators at Island Cove in Cavite, which was previously owned by his family, to demonstrate his commitment. He said the order was to close all operators regardless of whether they are run by Chinese or Filipino owners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He said there would be a final inspection of offshore gaming operators on December 15 and that they must be completely closed by December 31. In a separate interview, he confirmed that he had had discussions with offshore gaming operators at Island Cove, who agreed to halt operations on December 15.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Presidential Anti-Organized\u00a0Crime Commission says offshore gaming operator hubs raided in Porac and Bamban could be converted into schools.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":176,"featured_media":20663,"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, through PAOCC and DILG, is intensifying its crackdown on offshore gaming operators (POGOs), exploring the repurposing of raided hubs into public facilities and vowing to cease all POGO operations by year-end. This aggressive regulatory enforcement, driven by allegations of criminal activities and money laundering, signals a definitive shift in the Philippines' stance on its iGaming sector, impacting both licensed and illicit operators.","focusai_entities":"Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission, PAOCC, Lucky South 99, Zun Yuan Technology, Alice Guo, National Bureau of Investigation, NBI, Anti-Money Laundering Council, AMLC, Department of the Interior and Local Government, DILG, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., Gilbert Cruz, Jonvic Remulla, Winston John Casio","focusai_location":"Philippines, Porac, Pampanga, Bamban, Tarlac, Pasay City, Cavite, Island Cove","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (1.0), regulator (1.0), compliance_legal (1.0), operator_casino (1.0), payments_fraud_aml (0.9), investor_analyst (1.0), supplier_vendor (0.9), journalist_researcher (1.0)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"POGO Asset Repurposing?","query":"What are the specific legal and logistical frameworks being established for the forfeiture and repurposing of POGO assets, and what is the projected timeline for these conversions?"},{"label":"Economic Impact of POGO Ban?","query":"What is the estimated economic impact on the Philippine economy, particularly in terms of employment and government revenue, following the complete cessation of all offshore gaming operations?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[439,16333],"tags":[20326],"class_list":["post-777019808","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\/777019808","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=777019808"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777019808\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":777019838,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777019808\/revisions\/777019838"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20663"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=777019808"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=777019808"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=777019808"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}