Philippine gaming regulator PAGCOR has alerted licensed Internet Gaming Licensees (IGLs) of a disinformation campaign after it was a revealed a fake letter is circulating ordering those companies to terminate operations immediately.
In a statement, the head of PAGCOR’s Offshore Gaming Licensing Department, Atty. Jessa Mariz Fernandez, said a supposed memo to LGUs in Metro Manila dated 26 July is a forged version of an earlier memorandum she issued three days earlier and in the wake of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr’s State of the Nation Address. It was during this address that the President announced a ban on all IGLs, also known as POGOs, from the end of the year.
“We have not issued a memorandum ordering LGUs (local government units) to immediately close down POGO operations in their jurisdiction because the President’s order is very clear: We have until the end of the year to wind down POGO operations, and we will follow that,” Atty. Fernandez said.
According to PAGCOR, the fake memo told select LGUs in Metro Manila to terminate POGO operations within the first week of August.
“This is a clear disinformation intended to create chaos and confusion,” she said. “Whoever is behind this clearly has ulterior motives, and we shall ask the National Bureau of Investigation to investigate and unmask them to determine their motives.”
The actual letter sent by PAGCOR on 23 July had informed all POGO-related companies that operations were in “status quo” pending further information from the President’s office.
Inside Asian Gaming also reported last week that POGO suppliers would likely be permitted to continue operating if they can demonstrate that they are also servicing non-POGO businesses.
“We reiterate, and we advise our LGUs, that licensed IGLs can continue operating until we have determined the process of winding down their operations, which we currently have not yet finalized,” Atty. Fernandez said.
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