{"id":777020823,"date":"2024-11-19T08:50:53","date_gmt":"2024-11-19T11:50:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/?p=777020823"},"modified":"2026-04-22T04:05:33","modified_gmt":"2026-04-22T07:05:33","slug":"pagcor-reaffirms-regulatory-oversight-of-freeport-area-of-bataan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/pagcor-reaffirms-regulatory-oversight-of-freeport-area-of-bataan","title":{"rendered":"PAGCOR reaffirms regulatory oversight of Freeport Area of Bataan"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

PAGCOR has refuted claims that the agency lacked authority over an alleged offshore gaming operator in Bataan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

The Philippines.- The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) has reaffirmed that it has regulatory authority over the Freeport Area of Bataan<\/strong>.\u00a0In a statement released today (November 19), the agency addressed remarks by Joseph Lobo<\/strong>, a senior official in its Offshore Gaming Licensing Department, who said last week that the regulator had no jurisdiction over a suspected offshore gaming operator in Bataan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While Lobo said the Authority of the Freeport Area of Bataan (AFAB) was the governing authority, PAGCOR said it \u201caims to correct this statement”. It said: \u201cRepublic Act No. 9728 grants the AFAB the power to oversee certain tourism-related activities within the Freeport Area of Bataan, including games, amusements, recreational and sports activities, subject to the approval and supervision of PAGCOR.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis underscores the fact that while AFAB may regulate specific activities and exercise authority within its jurisdiction, its power to issue licenses for gaming operations remains conditional and subject to PAGCOR\u2019s oversight and approval.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Earlier this month, the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC)<\/strong> along with the Philippine National Police (PNP)<\/strong> and armed forces arrested 57 foreign nationals and 358 Filipinos <\/strong>allegedly linked to offshore gaming operators in a raid in Bagac, Bataan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Officials reportedly received information that the Central One complex within the compound was housing an unlicensed offshore gaming operation. PAOCC executive director undersecretary Gilbert Cruz <\/strong>told dzBB that around 900 people were employed at the hub. Among them were nationals from China, Vietnam, and Malaysia and 600 Filipinos.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Malolos Regional Trial Court Branch 81 granted the search warrant after determining that there was probable cause indicating violations of Republic Act 9208. PAOCC spokesperson Winston Casio<\/strong> said the firm operated under a permit from the Authority of the Freeport Area of Bataan but had no online gambling permit from the PAGCOR.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

See also:<\/strong> Illegal gambling in the Philippines: 42 deported<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Philippine police deny US$5.1m seized from offshore gaming operators is missing<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

PNP spokesperson Jean Fajardo<\/strong> has said that PHP300m (US$5.1m) in cash seized during raids carried out against offshore gaming operators in Las Pi\u00f1as City and Pampanga remains secure. Reports had claimed that the money was missing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere is no truth to the malicious reports that the money is missing. These are considered fruits of crime so the case is pending and the PNP would comply with a competent court as to the proper disposal of these seized evidence,\u201d Fajardo said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf the court would say that these should be turned over to the Department of Justice, the PNP is more than willing to turn over these. If the court would issue orders to return the money, then the PNP will comply,\u201d Fajardo told reporters when sought for a comment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fajardo suggested false information was intended to create confusion about the raid in Malate, Manila, last month. \u201cThe money is intact. It just so happened there are efforts to muddle the issue of our legitimate operation against Vertex Technologies,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

PAGCOR has refuted claims that the agency lacked authority over an alleged offshore gaming operator in Bataan.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":176,"featured_media":777008355,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"is_press_release":false,"is_interview":false,"is_opinion":false,"focusai_summary":"PAGCOR has reaffirmed its overarching regulatory authority over offshore gaming operations within the Freeport Area of Bataan, refuting claims by a subordinate official and the AFAB regarding jurisdictional oversight. This clarification follows a significant raid on an alleged unlicensed offshore gaming operator, highlighting ongoing enforcement challenges and the complexities of multi-agency governance frameworks in the Philippine iGaming sector.","focusai_entities":"PAGCOR, Joseph Lobo, Authority of the Freeport Area of Bataan (AFAB), Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC), Philippine National Police (PNP), Gilbert Cruz, Winston Casio, Jean Fajardo, Vertex Technologies","focusai_location":"Philippines, Bataan, Bagac, Malolos, Las Pi\u00f1as City, Pampanga, Manila, Malate, China, Vietnam, Malaysia","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (0.9), regulator (1.0), compliance_legal (0.95), operator_casino (0.9), affiliate_publisher (0.7), marketing_crm (0.7), payments_fraud_aml (0.75), investor_analyst (0.9), supplier_vendor (0.85), journalist_researcher (0.8)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"PAGCOR's Enforcement Strategy?","query":"What specific measures will PAGCOR implement to ensure consistent regulatory interpretation and enforcement across all economic zones, particularly concerning B2B\/B2C licensing for offshore gaming operators?"},{"label":"AFAB's Licensing Authority?","query":"How will the jurisdictional overlap between PAGCOR and AFAB be formally resolved to prevent future ambiguities regarding the issuance and oversight of gaming licenses within the Freeport Area of Bataan?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[157,16333],"tags":[405],"class_list":["post-777020823","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business-news","category-south-east-asia-news","tag-pagcor"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777020823","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=777020823"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777020823\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":777020842,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777020823\/revisions\/777020842"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/777008355"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=777020823"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=777020823"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=777020823"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}