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Plans to Build POGO Hub in QC Thwarted

October 25, 2024 Philippines Crime & Legal

Plans to establish a Philippine Offshore Gaming Operations (POGO) hub in Quezon City were thwarted due to efforts of the local government. This was done in collaboration with the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission and the National Bureau of Investigation.

This comes after the Quezon City local government announced that there is no place for POGOs in the city following a declaration of a total ban on “operation, application, and approval of permits to operate.”

According to an Abante report, one of the areas being monitored in Quezon City is Novaliches due to alleged attempts to establish a POGO in the area. Officials of Quezon City are in the process of expanding Helpline 122, a hotline for citizens, especially concerning gambling issues.

Based on reports received at the QC Helpline, a group led by Rose Lin is allegedly planning a POGO scam farm at the site of the former Uniwide Sales Warehouse in Barangay Gulod, but they were thwarted.

Rose Lin gained notoriety due to the Pharmally scandal during the COVID-19 pandemic involving overpriced face masks and face shields.

The entrepreneur has not yet responded to the allegations. On October 7, 2024, Lin filed her certificate of candidacy (COC) to run for congresswoman in the fifth district of Quezon City.

The QC LGU pointed out that even before President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. declared a total ban on POGOs nationwide, there was already a policy in the city prohibiting POGOs. This policy is the Anti-POGO Ordinance of Quezon City (SP No. 3297).

The ordinance was created due to the rise of criminal activities in areas with POGOs, such as money laundering, online scams, human trafficking, and other crimes affecting the morality and peace of communities.

The QC government also highlighted the success of the Quezon City Birth Registration Online.

Thanks to this system, individuals like Alice Guo, who pretended to be Filipino using a fake birth certificate, are now even less welcome in the city.