This is very bad for the people who love online gambling in the Philippines. A senator of the Philippines proposes a Bill to ban all Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (POGO) and all kinds of Online Gambling. Any individual involved will be fined up to Php500k(US$8,536) or imprisoned for up to six months.
POGO is a hot topic, and there are ongoing Senate hearings, so this has come out, but the real issue here is the corrupt officials who gave licenses to fake POGO and failed to monitor their activity when they should.
POGO is a source of income for the government; there's no need to create a bill; the government has the power to make POGO and online gambling illegal since it's not the bill that allows them to operate but the agency of the government.
President Marcos will not allow his yearly budget to get cut off when the country is reeling from debts and the over 25k Filipino workers on POGO to be displaced, so the bill is not likely to prosper.
What about you do you think banning offshore gambling operators and online gambling will solve the spread of illegal gambling activities in a country?
The head of the Pagcor, the gaming license of the Philippines has this to say
“As far as a supposed ‘phase-out’ is concerned, that’s the kind of phase-out I fully support: You phase out the bad and mediocre licensees,”
“You don’t phase the whole industry out. You enforce the law,” Salceda said.
Marcos allies in House split over POGO ban