POGO licenses may be used as fronts for illegal activities – Carpio

MANILA, Philippines – Former Supreme Court justice Antonio Carpio has raised concerns that licensed Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGOs) catering to the mainland Chinese market are merely being used as fronts for illegal activities.

According to Carpio, the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation’s (PAGCOR) should not have issued any licenses to POGOs operated by China, given that gambling is banned in China. Access to websites of POGOs claiming to cater to the mainland Chinese market would have also been blocked by China’s “Great Firewall,” the country’s powerful censorship machinery.

“Have you heard about the ‘great firewall of China?’ The online POGOs claiming to operate in China are blocked. They get license from PAGCOR saying they operate in China but they are blocked,” Carpio said during the Kapihan sa Manila Bay media forum on Saturday, July 20.

The former SC justice alleged that Chinese-run POGOs are using the license as “cover only so they can have buildings, operation with computers.” He said that the firms might instead be engaged in scamming and internet phishing.

Carpio said he hoped President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. would speak up against POGOs in his upcoming 3rd State of the Nation Address.

“It is probably good if he can announce he is against the rules of PAGCOR issuing licenses on POGO that cater to the mainland Chinese market,” Carpio said on Saturday.

“Just cancel those licenses. We are just fooling ourselves,” he added.

Carpio, along with former senator Leila de Lima and former SC justice Conchita Carpio Morales, had previously urged President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to cancel the licenses granted to POGOs.

“PAGCOR cannot, and should not, issue a license to any POGO that caters to the mainland Chinese market. Any such license is void ab initio under PAGCOR’s own regulations,” their open letter read.

POGOs first began expanding in the Philippines in 2016 under the administration of Rodrigo Duterte, which took a liberal stance in regulating the industry. Although China has repeatedly asked for POGOs in the country to be shut down, the Philippine government has never issued a ban against POGOs, in part due to the economic gains that the POGOs supposedly bring in.

However, the tide has begun to turn under the Marcos administration. Officials on Marcos’ economic team have pointed out that the “social costs” of POGOs outweigh their economic benefits. The Alice Guo saga in the Senate and continued raids on illegal POGOs have also fueled further calls from politicians for a complete ban. – Rappler.com