THE Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (Pagcor) welcomed last Thursday a crackdown by the Chinese embassy on its nationals with criminal records who are now doing business or working in the country, mostly with the Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO).
The ongoing crackdown is the latest development in the POGO field which has drawn the attention of the Senate. The Senate Committee on Women and Children headed by Sen. RIsa Hontiveros recently held a hearing on alleged prostitution rings run by Chinese nationals who allegedly bribed Philippine immigration officials with money rolled tightly into a “pastillas” shape. Sen. Richard Gordon wants the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee to investigate other issues related to POGO, such as tax evasion and the rise in the number of Chinese nationals in the country.
So many charges of irregularities have been raised lately in connection with POGO operations, but POGO itself is a legitimate program that was placed under Pagcor in 2016, along with existing operations such as casinos, but not cockfighting and jai-alai which are covered by special laws.
Offshore Gaming, as its name clearly states, does not take place in the Philippines. Licensed operators here take bets which they relay to offshore games with players from other countries. Advancements in telecommunications and information technology paved the way for remote Internet gambling. The licensed operators in the Philippines are prohibited, among other rules, from accepting bets from Filipino citizens.
The local operators licensed by Pagcor must remit 2 percent of their gross revenues as regulatory fees. From P73.72 million in 2016, these revenues collected by the government rose to P3.12 billion in 2017, to P6.11 billion in 2018, P5.73 billion in 2019. License fees – including application, processing, and regulatory fees – amounted to P18 billion in 2019.
To ensure that all POGO operators and service providers report accurate revenues and abide by regulatory requirements, Pagcor conducted a bidding and subsequently contracted GlobalComCRI, a third party service provider, to audit all POGO companies. As of February, 2020, there were 60 approved, but only 58 operational POGOs, along with 239 service providers.
The service providers are separate groups that provide housing, food, medicine, marketing, and other services to the thousands of Chinese employees of POGO operators. They are another source of tax income for the government.
There have been complaints about crimes and many other violations by some Chinese employees involved with POGO. Actually, Pagcor officials pointed out, this is a matter of law enforcement by the Burequ of Immigration, the Bureau of Internal Revenue, the police, and other government agencies.
Pagcor expressed its support to the Chinese Embassy on its crackdown on Chinese in the Philippines who were able to leave China despite their criminal records. At least 2,000 or 3 percent of some 70,000 wanted Chinese nationals have already been repatriated.
Pagcor said it is working with the Department of Justice and other concerned Philippine agencies for the creation of an operations center where all problems related to illegal gambling and cybercrimes can be coursed through. With such shared effort, it said, the problems that have led to hearings by the Senate can be effectively solved.
