\u00a0<\/strong><\/span>in November.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\nUnder the proposed legislation, those found to have breached the ban would face imprisonment of four to six years and a fine of no less than PHP100,000 (US$1,700) but not exceeding PHP500,000 (US$8,500) for an initial offence. For a second violation, the punishment would be imprisonment for six to eight years and a maximum fine of PHP1m (US$17,000). In the case of a third offence and any subsequent violations, the penalty would be imprisonment for eight to ten years and a maximum fine of PHP10m (US$170,000).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Philippine Senate committee warns criminal activity continues despite offshore gaming ban<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
A senate committee report has warned that criminal syndicates linked to offshore gaming are still active despite the ban on offshore gaming operations. Committee Report No. 514 outlines how human trafficking, financial crimes and threats to national security continue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Casinos and integrated resorts have reportedly emerged as new hubs for former offshore gaming operators, where they are using junket agreements to sustain online gambling and illegal financial activities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The report was presented by Senate deputy minority leader Risa Hontiveros<\/strong>, who also chairs the Senate Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations, and Gender Equality. She said special economic zones were being misused by scam operations and that cryptocurrency transactions had become a significant means for laundering money from online fraud and trafficking. She said: \u201cOur office has received reports that former offshore gaming workers are being relocated to a casino in Para\u00f1aque<\/strong>, housed in dormitories similar to previous offshore gaming operator setups.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe committee shared a series of recommendations<\/strong>, including prosecuting local officials. It requested the government clarify Executive Order No. 74, particularly Section 2(b) which states: \u201cThis definition excludes online games of chance conducted in PAGCOR-operated casinos, licensed casinos, or integrated resorts with junket agreements.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe committee also directed the Securities and Exchange Commission to review its procedures for verifying incorporators\u2019 identities and the authenticity of other document requirements. It ordered the Department of Labor and Employment to continuously update the senate on its efforts to provide assistance to Filipino workers affected by the offshore gaming ban and required the Philippine Statistics Authority to investigate the number of Filipinos whose births remain unregistered and to create policies, programs, and projects to make immediate birth registration more accessible.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
House Bill 10987 would institutionalise the\u00a0ban on\u00a0offshore gaming operators.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":176,"featured_media":777012806,"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 legislators have advanced House Bill 10987, aiming to institutionalize the ban on offshore gaming operations (POGOs) with severe penalties for non-compliance. Concurrently, a Senate committee report highlights the persistence of criminal syndicates linked to former POGOs, now leveraging integrated resorts and junket agreements for illicit financial activities and human trafficking, prompting calls for enhanced regulatory oversight and inter-agency action.","focusai_entities":"Philippine legislators, Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., Risa Hontiveros, Senate Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations, and Gender Equality, Securities and Exchange Commission, Department of Labor and Employment, Philippine Statistics Authority, PAGCOR","focusai_location":"Philippines, Para\u00f1aque","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (0.9), regulator (1.0), compliance_legal (0.95), operator_casino (0.9), payments_fraud_aml (0.9), investor_analyst (0.85), supplier_vendor (0.75), journalist_researcher (0.9)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"POGO Ban Enforcement Impact","query":"What specific enforcement mechanisms will be implemented to prevent former offshore gaming operators from leveraging licensed integrated resorts and junket agreements for illicit activities, and how will this impact legitimate B2B partnerships?"},{"label":"Regulatory Framework Gaps","query":"How will the proposed legislation and inter-agency recommendations address the identified gaps in regulatory oversight, particularly concerning special economic zones and cryptocurrency transactions, to mitigate financial crime risks?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[154,16333],"tags":[23911,4138],"class_list":["post-777022640","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-legislation-news","category-south-east-asia-news","tag-gambling-regulation","tag-online-gambling"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777022640","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=777022640"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777022640\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":777022660,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777022640\/revisions\/777022660"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/777012806"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=777022640"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=777022640"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=777022640"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}