MANILA, Philippines – Inaprubahan na ng House games and amusements panel nitong Lunes, Pebrero 12 ang panukalang magbabawal sa Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO) sa bansa.
Inaprubahan ng komite ang House Bill 5802 na inakda ni Manila lawmaker Bienvenido Abante.
Si Bulacan representative Augustina Pancho ang nagsagawa ng mosyon para sa pag-apruba ng panukala, habang si Cagayan de Oro lawmaker Rufus Rodriguez naman ang nagsabi na hindi dapat magbulag-bulagan ang pamahalaan sa tumataas na rekord ng mga krimen dahil sa POGO, kabilang ang human trafficking.
Iba pa sa POGO-related crimes ay ang forcible abduction, homicide, illegal detention, theft, robbery extortion, serious physical injuries, swindling, grave coercion, investment scam, cryptocurrency scam at love scam.
“Can you imagine, an inter gamut of criminal law is already included here from the felonies under the Revised Penal Code,” ani Rodriguez.
“This has been the situation from the time I filed this [Resolution] in August 2023, [and] many more crimes have been committed. This is why I would say whatever the benefits accrued to our country [by POGO], it has produced grave concerns and problems of peace and order. POGO has inflicted undesired results on our people,” dagdag pa niya.
Para naman sa Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (Pagcor), ang mga hakbang na ito ay ipinatupad upang maiwasan ang POGO-related crimes, at ang bilang ng POGO sa bansa ay nabawasan na sa 75 mula sa halos 300 noong 2019.
“Less than that number (75) is Chinese-owned. We were able to weed out [illegal] POGO hubs in Central Luzon, Clark…We deported close to 2,000 foreigners,” ani PAGCOR chief Al Tengco.
“A lot of licensees who got their license during the previous administration were denied license to operate [under the new administration] because we believe that they are not fit to do business here,” dagdag ni Tengco. RNT/JGC
