P0G0s will continue to operate
By GTNAIYN D. KABITI G such as government's efforts against
and ttts0 QlJlSM0Rlo
The controversial offshore gaming
service will still be allowed to operate
in the counlry for now.
President Duterte has decided not
to suspend or stop the Philippine off-
shore gaming operators (POGos) drre
to the anticipated revenues that can
be used for the programs and proiects
POGOs will continue...
interview Sunday.
(Ang
sabi niya kahapon maganda
ang report ni Pagcor head. Maganda
ra\^ angreport ni Pagcor. so oka)'. Kai-
langan Lalaga natin ang pondo gaJing
doon (H€ said Saturday that th€ repon
ofthe Pagcor head is good so okay. We
really need the revenues from these
operations),') he added.
Panelo admitted that the govern,
ment programs such as salaries for
government workefs as well as cam-
paign against the new coronavirus
could be funded by the revenues from
the online gaming serrdces.
"Marami tayongprojects na kailan-
gan natin ngpondo forinstance for the
salaries of the nurses, teachers. Mara*
'''
- Palace
the coronavirus threat.
The President made the decision
after readinga reportfrom the Philip-
pine Arnusement and Gaming Opera-
. iions (Pagcor) on the POGO revenues,
according to presidential spokesman.
Salvador Panelo.
'( Nandun pa rin
(It is still there). He
s,li,i$,T:::i:"T#i,i li,T'i > +
I<
mi. Ngayon may problema na naman
iayo sa coronavirus eh di maarj nating
pagkunan doon (Wehave manyproiects
that required funds. For instance, the
salaries of nurses, teachers. We have
many needs. Now we have a problem
with the coronavirus, we get the funds
from them)," he said.
The government, meantime, wili
continue to enforce the law to clamp
down on the aJleged illegal acliviries
related to POGOS, according to Panelo.
Some lar.vrnakers had earlier clled
for the suspension ofoffshore gambling
services mostly run by Chinese nation-
als Iollowing a string of alleged viola-
tions of the law. Among the iiiegal ac-
tivities reportedly linked to the pOGOs
t,
T,Qntr pAea,l
ffiffiffi8&ffifsFwwtu&ffiw€ffi
Monday, March g, 2020
are tax evasion, money laundering;
corruption, illegal recruitment of
Chinese workers and sex trafficking.
The Chinese Embassy in Manila
recently declared that illegal activities
allegedly involving Chinese nation-
als are "isolated" cases and do not
represent the '(whole picture" of the
China-Philippines relations. It also
promised to continue to cooperate
with the Philippines govemment in
combating crime and other illegal
activities
GMRC, culture-sensitivity
training for POGO workers
Ir)s about time ro subject for-
eign Philippine Offshore Gaming
Operators (POGOS) workers to Good
Manners and Right Conduct (GMRC)
seminars and culture sensitivity
training.
,,Ang Probinsyano Party-list Rep.
Rdnnie ong called the initiative of
Pagcor regarding the GMRC training
for the visitingworkers as ,,timely.',
!rThey must be
reminded that al-
though Filipinos are hospitable, they
should abide by our laws and respect
our cultures and traditions. It's just
like having visitors in your house.
When they start breaking things and
start pestering otherpeople, it is just
right that we should show them the
way out. What I'm proposing is that
we lay dor,rm our house rules before
we let rhem inside our house." ong
said.
For Surigao del Norte 2nd district
Rep. Robefi Ace Barbers, fhere's al
ready enough evidence out ther€ to
warrant the closure of POGOs, if only
due to the crime links.
Barbers, chairman of rhe Committee on
Dangerous Drugs, said pOGOs would ,'likely
become havens for undesirable aliens, drug
traffickers, and other crime s),'ndicates Ior
their nloney-iaundering and illicil opera
tions" if authorities don,t act fast.