MANILA, Philippines – Sen. Joel Villanueva filed Senate Bill 2752, or the proposed Anti-POGO Act, following President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s order to ban all Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs).
The measure seeks to revoke “all POGO and other related licenses issued by the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (Pagcor) and other investment promotion agencies with the power to issue such licenses.”
Once passed into law, POGO companies, legal and illegal, would be given 30 days to cease their operation or be sentenced to 12 to 20 years in prison and/or pay a fine of P100 million.
Once the law takes effect, it will abolish Republic Act 11590, or the Act Taxing Philippine Offshore Gaming Operations passed during the Duterte administration.
The proposed measure also requires the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) to provide a Workers’ Transition Program together with the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) and other relevant agencies, for affected POGO workers.
In the Senate hearing Monday, Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation chairman and CEO Alejandro Tengco said that about 40,000 workers will be displaced as an effect of the POGO ban.
PAGCOR was ordered by the President to wind down all POGO operations until the end of the year.
