Philippine National Police to join PAGCOR in POGO inspections

Philippine National Police group, the Anti Cybercrime Group (PNP-ACG) to join PAGCOR officials in inspecting POGO operations.

Original story by Joviland Rita for GMA Integrated News

The PNP-ACG on Monday proposed to the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR), the principal regulatory agency of the Philippine government, that they include their own agents in inspections of Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs).

In a press conference, PNP-ACG chief Police Brigadier General Sidney Hernia said the police group submitted their inputs to PAGCOR, which was now considering some changes in its policies on POGOs.

“Hopefully, we can institutionalize the PNP’s presence, especially the PNP-ACG, in the PAGCOR’s monitoring and inspections,” said Hernia

The police recently rescued around 3,000 Filipino and foreign workers while serving a search warrant on a Las Piñas City POGO firm allegedly involved in human trafficking and other illegal activities.

Authorities also discovered some foreign fugitives among the rescued workers.

The Philippine government has recently intensified efforts against illegal gambling in the country. Recently, a component city of Metro Manila issued a city-wide ban against POGOs and other online gambling activities.

National government figures have also made pronouncements in support of these recent developments against POGOs, with the country’s Finance Secretary saying that the revenue is not worth retaining the industry.

Senators have likewise urged the Marcos government to issue an absolute ban, with one senator saying that online gambling operators get away with ‘billions of unpaid taxes.

Hernia added that the possible policy changes would help address the issues on POGOs as he lamented that many people were already getting affected due to multiple police operations.

“These policy changes would help so we no longer depend on numerous police operations. Raids come one right after another. So many people were getting affected. Most likely, it would be better if we acted on the policies,” Hernia said.

Read the original report here