AT about this time last year, Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla grandly announced the cancellation of the visas of 48,000 foreign workers of Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs) whose licenses have been revoked by the Philippine Gaming Corp.
Revilla said the workers were not deported outright for humanitarian reasons, but that they must voluntarily leave the country.
Majority chose to stay as îllégâl aliens, opting to hang around while the government figures out a straightforward solution to the POGO issue.
The humanitarian approach definitely isn't working, and the government has switched to a hunt-and-deport strategy, raiding colorum POGOs and booting the workers out of the country. In January, Remulla reported that almost half of the overstaying workers have been deported by batches.
When the first online ******** operators opened shop in the Philippines in 2016, they were warmly welcomed as a revenue generator for a government that was scrounging for funding for its ambitious Build, Build, Build program.
As part of the perks, the gaming operators were allowed to bring in their own workforce, made up mostly of Chinese. At one point, 300,000 Chinese were employed by POGOs.
For a while, the POGOs lived up to their promise. In 2020, they ρáíd P7.2 billion in taxes, more than double what they ρáíd the previous year.
Strained by the crippling Covid pandemic and flagging economy, the relationship began to fray. Government came to realize that POGOs were not the cash cow that they were hyped up to be.
The operators soon found themselves in the crosshairs of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR). POGOs were projected to generate P32 billion in taxes; they only delivered about a third of that target, and the BIR wants to find out what caused the shortfall.
POGOs were also linked to a wide assortment of criminal activity, from kidnapping and prostitution, to money laundering and human trafficking. A recent addition to the list is the involvement of POGOs in crypto scamming.
There was political pressure as well: Beijing was calling out Manila for harboring offshore gaming operators that illegally employ Chinese.
Last year, there was a growing consensus that POGOs have to go. Sen. Grace Poe said the social costs of keeping the operators were "too high."
Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno assured that the government could handle the financial slack once the POGOs leave.
A year on, the debate over the fate of POGOs has shifted tack, to how much time operators should be given to pack up and leave.
At the same time, the Department of Justice has stepped up its campaign to close down POGOs operating on the sly.
"We will not stop until we rid the country of foreign nationals who abuse our laws," Immigration Commissioner Norman Tansingco has vowed.
In the Senate, a resolution has been filed that will lay the groundwork for banishing POGOs.
Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian, who filed the committee report that contains the resolution, said the oust-POGOs campaign has been gaining momentum, having been signed by 10 of his colleagues.
The Senate Committee on Ways and Means, which Gatchalian heads, recommends a three-month phaseout of POGOs.
The committee also urged the collection of taxes from delinquent POGO firms.
Gatchalian played down the economic fallout from phasing out POGOs, saying they contribute less than 1 percent to the gross domestic product, and less than 1 percent to tax collections.
The committee report also noted that "******** in general has been inherently associated with crime. This poses a reputational risk for the Philippines that can affect [its] business and investment climate."
Not everyone agrees with the report. Sen. Robinhood "Robin" Padilla recommends a two-year phaseout, saying three months is too abrupt.
In the House of Representatives, Albay Rep. Jose Ma. Clemente "Joey" Salceda, a staunch defender of POGOs, reiterated his argument that outlawing them is "like burning the whole house down to snuff out the rats."
The dissenting voices should not weaken the renewed resolve to sound the death knell of POGOs. The government has pussyfooted too long. It's time to deal the final blow.
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