Philippines Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno told participants of an online briefing on Wednesday that he would prefer to see the Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO) industry shut down, even if it costs the nation much-needed tax revenues.
“For me, let’s get rid of POGOs,” Diokno said during the Kapihan sa Manila Bay briefing, as per a report by Philstar. “We can get revenues from lots of other sources.”
While this is not the first time Diokno has questioned the need for the POGO industry, it comes at a time when POGO tax revenues are on the rise with the government having raked in Php4.44 billion (US$80 million) through the first eight months of 2022 compared with Php3.91 billion (US$71 million) in all of 2021. It is unclear how much revenue POGOs have brought in since September 2022.
Nevertheless, the offshore gaming industry has come under intense scrutiny recently due to links with human trafficking and money laundering, with one illegal operation recently shut down in the Clark Freeport Zone following a raid by authorities.
Diokno also suggested POGOs were the reason the Philippines was still on the Financial Action Task Force’s “gray list”.
“I think [eliminating POGOs] would affect us, but I don’t think it will be a big dent to our revenue, because there is … my personal objection to POGO is that [they carry] a reputation risk to the Philippine government.
“Maybe that’s the reason why we can’t get out of the FATF’s monitoring for anti-money laundering, because these are being used for money laundering purposes.”
Philippines gaming regulator PAGCOR has resisted previous calls to shut down the POGO industry and has instead responded to recent controversies by announcing new sanctions for any licensed POGO that breaks the law.
PAGCOR said recently it will issue show-cause orders and fines of US$50,000 to any POGO licensees or service providers that allow other companies to operate under their license.
The Clark Development Corporation (CDC) also vowed to stop processing new lease or sub-lease applications by offshore gaming operators following the recent closure of the offshore gaming hub at Sun Valley Clark.
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