Philippines shutters offshore online gambling operations

Call it a triumph of China’s foreign policy. For years, Beijing has been working tirelessly to strike a deal with the Philippines, convincing the country to take a harder stance or altogether ban its offshore online gambling industry .

POGO ban comes into immediate effect in the Philippines

It has finally succeeded, after Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators or POGOs are now set to be effectively banned, as confirmed by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, who announced that his country is seeking a complete shutdown of the industry. This comes eight months since the last calls to move forward with the matter.

The issue has roiled China and contributed to a fraught diplomatic relationship, with Beijing insisting that POGOs have catered to illegal Chinese players, but worse – that the gaming operators were tied to cases of kidnappings, human trafficking, crypto and social engineering scams, and worse.

President Marcos has not wasted time, though, issuing an outright ban rather than announcing plans for such, backed by Senator Sherwin Gatchalian and other politicians who have been openly belligerent against the sector.

"Effective today, all POGOs are banned. Disguising as legitimate entities, their operations have ventured into illicit areas furthest from gaming, such as financial scamming, money laundering, prostitution, human trafficking, kidnapping, brutal torture – even murder. The grave abuse and disrespect to our system of laws must stop."

POGOs have proved particularly resilient to interferences, and even mounting rescue operations to free kidnapped people has proven difficult. Yet, the time of reckoning has come with the 46-odd licensed offshore gambling operators now ordered to withdraw their products.

The licenses were handed out under the regime of President Marcos’ predecessor, Rodrigo Duterte, a strongman who has been unyielding to foreign pressure to take a harsher stance on POGOs. If anything, the licensed regime has helped bolster the public purse which took another hit during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Social ills tied to POGO operations in the Philippines

Yet, financial considerations have not been enough to sway the Philippine government into retaining the POGOs’ status quo. Although it is very likely for the registered entities to comply and withdraw, they are not the only operators on the fringes of the Philippines.

Many operators are illegal and continue to happily operate as such. POGOs can normally be found across converted parking lots, abandoned malls and factories, and other dilapidated buildings. More than 1,000 Chinese citizens have been repatriated as part of a crackdown on POGOs that operate without a license in the past months.

Many Chinese citizens come to work at POGOs tempted by large pay packages, but a good number of people fall into the hands of human traffickers and are forced to work without pay. How meaningful the ban on POGOs is would depend on how effective the Philippines is in policing the real bad actors - the operators without a license.

Image credit: Prachatai (@Flickr)