Philippine lawmakers OK permanent POGO ban
Philippine senators approved legislation Monday that would permanently ban offshore gaming operations.
Senate Bill 2868, aka the Philippines Anti-POGO Act, passed 23-0. Sponsor Senator Sherwin Gatchalian said the measure “not only bans offshore gaming operations but also builds safeguards for our people”.
“This isn’t just a law,” Gatchalian said. “It’s the people’s demand to end the POGO menace.”
A companion bill was approved in the House on Tuesday by a vote of 172-1.
‘Legit’ industry infested by crime
The POGO era was brief but notorious. In September 2021, former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte signed Republic Act 11590, which legitimised the offshore industry by taxing it. Duterte projected POGOs would contribute PHP32 billion ($572 million) per year in taxes to the state. Of that, 60% was allotted for universal healthcare.
The estimate was overly optimistic. In 2021, POGOs paid PHP3.91 billion in taxes. The total jumped 127% in 2022, to PHP8.88 billion, on track to reach PHP24 billion by 2024. But those figures were still far short of the target, said Gatchalian.
POGOs also brought the risk of reputational damage. From the outset, they were dogged by reports of crime and corruption. In 2024, thousands of workers freed in POGO raids claimed to have been held against their will, forced to conduct online love and crypto scams and threatened with abuse. In July, Duterte’s successor, Ferdinand Marcos Jr, called for the industry’s immediate shutdown.
POGOs started as licensed entities, Marcos said, then “ventured into illicit areas furthest from gaming” including “financial scamming, money laundering, prostitution, human trafficking, kidnapping, brutal torture, even murder”.
POGOs: Down but not out (yet)
The Gatchalian bill calls for the seizure of POGO-related property and equipment and the continuing deportation of POGO-affiliated foreigners. An estimated 9,000 non-Filipino POGO workers remain in the Philippines, defying orders to leave from Malacañang.
According to the Philippine Star, since January authorities have arrested 750 foreign nationals in 10 POGO stings. But Gilbert Cruz of the Presidential Anti-Organised Crime Commission said it can’t keep rounding up suspects with no place to house them. The PAOCC detention facility is already overcrowded, Cruz said.
He suggested a centralised database to help law enforcement better share intelligence and monitor illegal activity. He also proposed recruiting local government forces to help detect POGOs that burrowed underground.
“This is not only about removing illegal businesses,” he said. “It is also about protecting the country’s integrity, ensuring public safety and demonstrating to the world that the Philippines will not be a safe haven for crime.”
The legislation, which would repeal RA 11590, now goes to Marcos for his signature.