All POGO licenses revoked by Dec 15
LICENSES of all remaining Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGOs) will be revoked by Dec. 15, the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) announced on Thursday. This was the guarantee given by the agency to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. during their meeting in Malacañang along with the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) and the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (Paocc). In a Palace briefing, Pagcor Chairman and CEO Alejandro Tengco also said there will be no more renewal of permits for the subsequent years. "I have reported to the president that by Dec. 15, four days from now, all POGO licenses are canceled," he said. "So, if there are those who are saying that they will be continuing their operations because they have a valid Pagcor license, that's not true," he added. Marcos, in his State of the Nation Address in July, ordered the total ban on POGOs. Since then, Pagcor has trimmed the number of offshore gaming operators and service providers in the country to about 60 from more than 300, Tengco noted. To date, there are only seven POGOs with active Pagcor licenses. DILG Secretary Jonvic Remulla, meanwhile, vowed they, together with the Paocc, will run down all underground gaming operators. He said they will issue an order requiring all local chief executives to submit a report regarding any suspicious activities within their localities, including possible movement or setup of POGOs. "We will know that once there's a sudden spike in the bandwidth use, entry of suspicious people, congregating in houses not registered as businesses. We will see that in the movement of foreigners looking to set up locally. So, they are enjoined to report immediately to us so we can take appropriate action," Remulla said in the same briefing. "We and the Paocc are in this together. We will jointly go after all of them until all of them are gone," he said.
Tomas Kauer - Moderator 
LICENSES of all remaining Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGOs) will be revoked by Dec. 15, the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) announced on Thursday.
This was the guarantee given by the agency to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. during their meeting in Malacañang along with the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) and the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (Paocc).
In a Palace briefing, Pagcor Chairman and CEO Alejandro Tengco also said there will be no more renewal of permits for the subsequent years.
"I have reported to the president that by Dec. 15, four days from now, all POGO licenses are canceled," he said.
"So, if there are those who are saying that they will be continuing their operations because they have a valid Pagcor license, that's not true," he added.
Marcos, in his State of the Nation Address in July, ordered the total ban on POGOs. Since then, Pagcor has trimmed the number of offshore gaming operators and service providers in the country to about 60 from more than 300, Tengco noted.
To date, there are only seven POGOs with active Pagcor licenses.
DILG Secretary Jonvic Remulla, meanwhile, vowed they, together with the Paocc, will run down all underground gaming operators.
He said they will issue an order requiring all local chief executives to submit a report regarding any suspicious activities within their localities, including possible movement or setup of POGOs.
"We will know that once there's a sudden spike in the bandwidth use, entry of suspicious people, congregating in houses not registered as businesses. We will see that in the movement of foreigners looking to set up locally. So, they are enjoined to report immediately to us so we can take appropriate action," Remulla said in the same briefing.
"We and the Paocc are in this together. We will jointly go after all of them until all of them are gone," he said.
