POGO, Yes or No-Go ?
Philippines Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO) is an institution that provides games, bets and pays the players. Some games include E-casino, sports betting and sports betting on regulated wagering events.
In 2016, PAGCOR licensed POGO operators to run. President Duterte announced the halt of all gambling operations due to its uselessness with the goal to progress the Philippine’s economy in other ways. Nonetheless, POGO hubs and PAGCOR still operated, and in 2016, POGO hubs were investigated to have suspicious transaction reports.
They decreased in 2020, but slowly increased in 2021, then rapidly increased in 2022. There were also many criminal groups that maintained POGO hubs to increase their revenue stream. Primarily, international players from China would play in POGO due to online gambling being banned in their country.
Due to the increase in suspicious transaction reports, it showed that there was no money coming out of the Philippines. Rather there was a lot of money coming inside the Philippines.
The idea of halting POGO’s operations was mentioned by both former President Rodrigo Duterte and President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. because of the crimes present within, such as human torture & trafficking, kidnapping, and money laundering.
A sample case is Lucky South 99, a POGO hub located in Pampanga and allegedly owned by Cassandra Ong. Said hub was suspected to bear the aforementioned crimes. During POGO raids, evident victims were present, tied to beds and severely injured by the torture.
As for the money laundering schemes, Alice Guo was seen as the main person behind such due to having several entities that transferred money. Aside from that, illegal POGOs utilized drug operations and syndicates to launder money. Furthermore, AMLC perceived in a risk assessment from March 2020 that POGO was highly vulnerable to money laundering.
Over 100 illegal POGO hubs are operating as of October 2024 despite the bans present. The Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) is closely watching POGO hubs that need to be shut down.
PAOCC Chief Gilbert Cruz stated that the POGO hubs (that are usually split into smaller groups) typically operate at night due to differing time zones. Despite such, Cruz stated that they are confident in closing the remaining POGO hubs.
Back to Articles
