By Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza, Reporter
THE PHILIPPINES’ Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) said it is looking into more offshore gaming operations across the country including those that are near key military facilities.
There are 17 Philippine Offshore Gaming Operations (POGOs) in Sta. Ana, Cagayan province in northern Philippines, and all of these are close to two sites under the country’s Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) with the United States, PAOCC spokesman Winston John Romero Casio said by telephone.
He added that the POGO sites are under the jurisdiction of the Cagayan Economic Zone Authority (CEZA) and not the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor).
“Because they are outside the regulatory power of Pagcor, and it’s far from the PAOCC, we do not know what’s happening inside those sites,” he said.
Under an executive order issued by ex-President Rodrigo R. Duterte in 2017, only Pagcor and three investment promotion agencies — CEZA, the Aurora Pacific Economic Zone Free Port Authority and Authority of the Freeport Area of Bataan can give a license to online gambling operations.
Other provinces with EDCA sites such as Cebu, Cagayan de Oro and Palawan also host POGO sites, which are all considered illegal because they are not under the watch of Pagcor or any investment promotion agency, Mr. Casio said.
“We’re looking at them because as far as our records show, there are no legal POGOs in Cebu,” he said. “We’re also taking a look at reports that there are offshore gaming operations in Palawan province as well as in Cagayan de Oro and Davao.”
“There should not be any in Davao or Cagayan de Oro,” he said, noting that the 42 legal POGOs under Pagcor’s watch are all in Metro Manila and in Kawit, Cavite.
Congress under Mr. Duterte passed a law taxing POGOs to legalize them, despite concerns about their social costs. Chinese President Xi Jinping had asked him to ban their operations.
Philippine authorities have raided POGOs allegedly linked to crimes including human trafficking.
Law enforcers raided a POGO in Bamban, Tarlac in March, rescuing hundreds of Filipino and foreign workers believed to have been trafficked. The raid later led to the suspension of the town mayor.
Authorities also raided another POGO complex on the border of Porac and Angeles City in Pampanga province that they dubbed as the “most notorious” for violence.
Mr. Casio told BusinessWorld that they recently recovered video materials showing workers being tortured inside the POGO complex, which had more than 40 buildings including villas and a golf course.
The videos showed a woman being tortured and a man being electrocuted for trying to escape, he said.
About 160 foreign nationals have been rescued from the POGO complex in Pampanga. Authorities have been looking for more victims and suspects inside the compound.
Mr. Casio said PAOCC has yet to come up with a recommendation to President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. amid a push in the Senate for a ban on all POGOs.
The agency on Tuesday said Manila and Beijing have agreed to boost cooperation against transnational crimes including those linked to POGOs during a meeting between Executive Secretary Lucas P. Bersamin, who heads the PAOCC, and Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Huang Xilian.
The parties had agreed to “effectively disrupt and dismantle criminal networks” through expertise exchanges, intelligence sharing and joint operations, the PAOCC said in a statement.
