Philippine gaming regulator PAGCOR will start actively winding down the nation’s offshore gaming operators from October, with an executive order on the matter expected to be signed by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr later this month.
President Marcos first announced the ban on Internet Gaming Licensees (IGLs) – more popularly known as POGOs (Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators) – during his State of the Nation Address in July, promising to shut down all existing operations by 1 January 2025. However, the ban won’t become official until the signing of an executive order.
Speaking at a Senate Hearing of the Committee on Games and Amusement on Wednesday, PAGCOR Chairman and CEO Alejandro Tengco said this order will be signed in September, followed by official action by PAGCOR against existing IGLs from next month.
This, he said, would likely see the industry shut down long before the 31 December 2024 deadline.
“The Bureau of Immigration announced that they will cancel working visas 59 days before December 31. After that, there will be no more visas,” Tengco said, adding that some IGLs have already shut down.
“The number has also decreased. Two months after the State of the Nation Address, we had 46. Today, we only have 41. That means five of those that we cancelled were gone because of numerous violations.”
Philippine News Agency also reported comments from PAGCOR Offshore Gaming Licensing Department Assistant Vice President Jessa Mariz Fernandez, who explained that the cancellation of work visas for POGO employees would be undertaken in batches.
“The removal of some parts of the operations internet gaming licensees can be done earlier. Initially, there will be a voluntary of downgrading of visas, then until a certain date they will actually cancel all visas,” Fernandez said.
“We are expecting that through that process, their operations will gradually decrease before 31 December 2024.”
