CEBU CITY, Philippines — (UPDATED Sept. 4, 2:30 p.m.) Following the discovery of a Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (Pogo) hub in Lapu-Lapu City recently, the Province of Cebu has started monitoring the possibilities of having other Pogo operations here.
Provincial Board Member Glenn Anthony Soco, Chair of the Committee on Trade and Industry, said in a News Media Forum on Tuesday, September 3, 2024, that the Provincial Board passed a resolution to monitor Pogo activities here.
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“We have to monitor diri sa Cebu nga maundang gyud na nga kana nga activities because we cannot afford nga maabot ang punto nga there’s more crime nga mahitabo pa tungod nianang nga operations,” Soco said.
He said the raid in Lapu-Lapu City only indicated that “Pogo is everywhere.”
“So it’s highly possible nga naa gyud na. It’s in our midst diri sa atoang lugar,” he added.
Soco said that while they value the economic relevance of Pogo because it provides employment opportunities and business to the local economy, the social cost would be outweighed.
With this, he said the provincial board supports the order of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, Jr. in banning Pogos here in the country.
“Disguising as legitimate entities, their operations have ventured into illicit areas furthest from gaming, such as financial scamming, money laundering, prostitution, human trafficking, kidnapping, brutal torture, [and] even murder. The grave abuse and disrespect to our system of laws must stop,” the President said during his third State of the Nation Address (Sona).
Soco, for his part, said the social cost of the impact of Pogo operations “is just too heavy to bear.”
Pogos first emerged in the Philippines in 2003. But it was only regulated in 2016 during the first year of former President Rodrigo Duterte’s presidency, as he pursued closer trade and investment ties with China.
But along with the rise of Pogos came reports of serious crimes—killings, kidnappings, blackmail, prostitution, illegal detention, and other infractions that abused the laws of the country and victimized Pogo workers.
In justifying continued Pogo operations in September 2019, Duterte said shutting them down would cause job and revenue losses. | with reports from Julie Aurelio, Inquirer.net and Inquirer Research