Marcos gov’t urged to nullify license of POGOs for Chinese market

MANILA, Philippines – Former senator Leila de Lima and former Supreme Court justices Antonio Carpio and Conchita Carpio Morales led a group of individuals in urging the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to cancel the licenses granted to Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGOs) who cater to the mainland Chinese market.

In an open letter to the President dated Tuesday, July 16, the group argued that the approval of licenses filed by such POGOs violates the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation’s (Pagcor) own rules.

“Pagcor requires every POGO to operate only in a foreign country where gambling is allowed. Clearly, no POGO can operate legally in mainland China which bans all kinds of gambling,” the letter read.

“Thus, PAGCOR cannot, and should not, issue a license to any POGO that caters to the mainland Chinese market. Any such license is void ab initio under PAGCOR’s own regulations,” it added.

Specifically, the signatories – including groups 1Sambayan, EveryWoman, Women2022, and Intercessors for the Philippines – cited the following provisions:

• PAGCOR’s Internet Gaming Regulations Regulation 2, Section 4 (Prohibited Acts) dated July 12, 2023: Allowing the registered website to be accessed within Philippine territory or in territories where online gaming is prohibited.
• PAGCOR’s Offshore Regulatory Gaming Manual Regulation 2 (Licensing of Philippine Offshore Gaming Operations), Section 3 (Prohibited Acts of Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators) dated July 3, 2018: The operator shall not allow its gaming website to be accessed within the territory of the Philippines or in territories where online gaming is prohibited.
• PAGCOR’s Offshore Regulatory Gaming Manual Regulation 4 (The Offshore Gaming License), Section 2 (Additional Documentary Requirements) dated July 3, 2018: License from foreign jurisdiction where the feed will be streamed to, or license of the recipient operator abroad.

The group insisted that Pagcor has the power to immediately cancel a license of a POGO that is later discovered to have made misrepresentations or provided false information.

“We, therefore, implore the President to direct Pagcor to cancel immediately all licenses of POGOs that cater to the mainland Chinese market,” the letter also read.

POGOs sprouted across the Philippines beginning 2016, and grew exponentially in the succeeding years, as operators took advantage of liberal gaming laws under the administration of Rodrigo Duterte. Many POGO operators are run by Chinese nationals, as gambling in their home country is banned.

In the past year, Beijing helped Manila shut down five POGO hubs and repatriate a thousand Chinese individuals.

In June, China called on the Philippines to put an end to offshore gambling, which it called a “social ill” that encourages crimes of kidnapping, human trafficking, and murder. In early July, Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin met with Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Huang Xilian to “strengthen their partnership” in the fight against organized crime.

Scrutiny of POGOs has intensified in recent months as the Senate investigates illegal activities linked with offshore gaming operators.

The probe took a turn for the worse after it was discovered that Alice Guo, a Tarlac mayor with POGO ties, had fingerprints that matched a Chinese woman who only arrived in the Philippines in 2003, raising suspicions that she entered local politics to further sustain POGO operations in her town of Bamban. – Rappler.com