POGO ban contributed to gray list exit – DOJ

THE Philippine government's decision to fully ban Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO) was a "big factor" in the country's removal from the Financial Action Task Force's (FATF) gray list, the Department of Justice (DOJ) said Saturday. At the Saturday News Forum in Quezon City, DOJ Deputy State Prosecutor Deana Perez said the fact that it was President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. who declared the ban on POGOs made the biggest difference. "It's a very big factor considering that it started from the top. It's a high-level commitment to restrict illegal gambling and use of casinos in illegal matters," she said. "Malaking bagay iyon kasi it came from the top, tapos nang nagcascade, maganda ang pag-implement (It was a huge contribution because it came from the top and when it was cascaded, the implementation was good)," she added. The Philippines was included in the gray list in 2021 with 18 deficiencies that the FATF deemed necessary to be addressed by the government to stop money laundering and terrorism financing. The FATF is an inter-governmental body that sets international standards against money laundering and terrorist financing. Inclusion in the FATF grey list means that a country is among the jurisdictions under its "increased monitoring." Among the deficiencies previously found were related to the country's regulatory supervision in gambling operations and POGOs; weaknesses in the implementation of targeted financial sanctions despite obvious anomalies; and delays in implementing the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020 despite huge intelligence confidential funds. Perez said the POGO ban was a determining factor as the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation's supervision over casinos was among the last subjects that passed the FATF test.