Do think that POGO should be declared as legal or Illegal ?

[Latviand]

A gambling platform headquartered in the Philippines called Philippines Offshore Gaming Operations (POGO) provides gambling, betting, and E-casinos outside of the nation. Many POGO companies operate legally in the Philippines by submitting license applications to PAGCOR, but some people run POGO illegally, which is why many legal offshore gaming operations are branded as illegal. If the government shuts down this operation, many Filipinos will lose their jobs and the Philippine economy will suffer a loss of several billion pesos.

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1672432/pogos-not-linked-to-illegal-online-gaming-says-pagcor

In my opinion, the POGO sector helps many Filipinos meet their basic needs and stimulates the economy, but having so many unlicensed offshore gambling establishments will harm the Philippines government's reputation.

[electronicash]

yes it stimulates the economy and during duterte's time it helped because he needs funds to govern the country and for his Bill, Bill, Bill project. at present its Bongbong, Philippines gets an aide because Jr is friendly with Blinken or Biden admin.

the only party that doesn't like the POGO as far as i  know is the Liberal (opposition). if its their president that sits on malacanang, they wouldn't suggest POGO  to be abolished legal or not

[uneng]

I think it is unfair to the legal companies that they have to compete with illegal brands. If they offer the same services and dispute the same public, all of them should follow the same regulations, otherwise, what incentive companies will have to follow the rules and pay taxes to the government?

In my opinion every businesses should be allowed by the government to start unregulated until they become profitable and solid. Only then they should start following the local requirements. Anyway, inevitably it would happen at some point, being impossible to stay informal forever.

[jakelyson]

The problem is not POGO itself but the implementation of the law or prevention of the operation of illegal POGOs in the Philippines. As you said, there are ways to legally operate POGO in the Philippines that will benefit both the POGO and the government of the Philippines. The government acknowledges the money they can earn with taxes and everything coming from POGO can help the economy of the country. They are good sources of funds if they work legally. The benefits for both parties are overwhelming if only the POGO is operating legally. The problem only arises when POGO is not legally registered. Most often as well, illegal POGOs are the ones that bring in illegal workers through tourist visas. MOst of the problems are from illegal POGO.

I think the Philippine government should not declare it illegal but be more active and vigilant in preventing illegal POGOs to operate in the country. Illegal operators do not only affects the country but also other POGOs that operate legally. They pose a danger in their own niche.

If the Philippines is capable of tracking down and closing illegal POGO in the country, then the legal ones can continue operating.

[rhomelmabini]

We don't really know the ratio over legal and illegal POGO but you may think that illegal operations are more compare to the legal ones? If that's the case then the government should take action on those illegal operations that doesn't pay taxes to the government, this has been an issue way back but it still exists these days.

[goldkingcoiner]

A gambling platform headquartered in the Philippines called Philippines Offshore Gaming Operations (POGO) provides gambling, betting, and E-casinos outside of the nation. Many POGO companies operate legally in the Philippines by submitting license applications to PAGCOR, but some people run POGO illegally, which is why many legal offshore gaming operations are branded as illegal. If the government shuts down this operation, many Filipinos will lose their jobs and the Philippine economy will suffer a loss of several billion pesos.

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1672432/pogos-not-linked-to-illegal-online-gaming-says-pagcor

In my opinion, the POGO sector helps many Filipinos meet their basic needs and stimulates the economy, but having so many unlicensed offshore gambling establishments will harm the Philippines government's reputation.

Well it might be a bit too late to wonder about whether or not PGO should be declared as illegal or not since it already exists in a perfectly legal fashion. Of course the government will not want to miss out on profits from the legal side of this entire scheme but they should also find new ways to regulate and protect the online gambling because there are too many vulnerable groups which need to be protected. So instead of declaring it illegal (which I very much doubt they intend to do since this is a cash cow for them), they should be exploring new options. Usually I am not the guy who is on the side of regulators but sometimes it is needed.

[btc_angela]

Government should weigh the cons and pros, and during the pandemic, it really brought big money on the government to help their people. However, as time goes by, there are a lot of negative connotations with Philippine POGO, and if I'm not mistaken, some of the Chinese are illegal with no documents whatsoever and then again, correct me if I'm wrong, there are kidnapping of Chinese nationals and it points out to those who are involved in POGO. It could be legal in a sense, but the government will have to gauge if they want to continue with it or not at this point.

[tabas]

First things first, if gambling is allowed in the country then that should be allowed even if their target customers aren't the locals since it's said that it's an OFFSHORE. Many countries are doing that, they're allowing tourists to gamble and don't allow their locals to be the customers so that income would just come in to them whether it's online or offline/local gambling.
Next, if they've taken a license and they've been through with authorized agencies and applied for it, there's nothing wrong with that as they've been through the process and complied with requirements.
Lastly, a government that's earning a lot from it legally just have to raid those illegal ones that are operating into their jurisdictions to remove those competitors and that will also force those illegal operations to be registered and apply for their licenses to become legal.

[robelneo]

But according to property analyst Leechiu Property Consultants, the Philippine economy could lose about P200 billion annually if the local online gaming industry players are shut down.

This is a big number for a country that just struggling to get back after that recent catastrophe brought about by typhoon Paeng the Philippine government must reconsider banning POGO the positive economic effect outweighs the negative effect of having POGO in the country, the Philippines to effectively supervise the POGO it has been a source of corruption, I read sometimes ago that Chinese POGO operators are trafficking their people and bribing airport people to let their people in, POGO has become a cash cow of corrupt government officials, this is what they should look deeply.

[Baofeng]

A gambling platform headquartered in the Philippines called Philippines Offshore Gaming Operations (POGO) provides gambling, betting, and E-casinos outside of the nation. Many POGO companies operate legally in the Philippines by submitting license applications to PAGCOR, but some people run POGO illegally, which is why many legal offshore gaming operations are branded as illegal. If the government shuts down this operation, many Filipinos will lose their jobs and the Philippine economy will suffer a loss of several billion pesos.

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1672432/pogos-not-linked-to-illegal-online-gaming-says-pagcor

In my opinion, the POGO sector helps many Filipinos meet their basic needs and stimulates the economy, but having so many unlicensed offshore gambling establishments will harm the Philippines government's reputation.

Philippine has made POGO legal, as they are licensed by the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR).

But the problem is, there are some POGO that runs illegally in the country, and most of them are run in secretly, but nevertheless, you will hear reports about the police raiding them and mostly they are illegal so what the authorities do is to send them back home to China.

I know that there is much that the government can do about those who are going to lose their jobs, but as some point they have to draw the line here. The economic benefits is outweight by what is going on behind the scene, killings and kidnappings and corruptions.

Even the Chinese government are totally against it, so why not the Philippine government do that as well?

[Fatunad]

A gambling platform headquartered in the Philippines called Philippines Offshore Gaming Operations (POGO) provides gambling, betting, and E-casinos outside of the nation. Many POGO companies operate legally in the Philippines by submitting license applications to PAGCOR, but some people run POGO illegally, which is why many legal offshore gaming operations are branded as illegal. If the government shuts down this operation, many Filipinos will lose their jobs and the Philippine economy will suffer a loss of several billion pesos.

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1672432/pogos-not-linked-to-illegal-online-gaming-says-pagcor

In my opinion, the POGO sector helps many Filipinos meet their basic needs and stimulates the economy, but having so many unlicensed offshore gambling establishments will harm the Philippines government's reputation.

Its impossible that they would really be shutting it down as a whole even though there are some lapses or misses when it comes to those illegal operation made out by some casinos but it wont really be a reason
for them to completely shut.We know that if there's legal ones then there's illegal ones which government do always hunt off these fellas.Its just normal for a government to look upon
when it comes to potential profits or taxes that they could imply with these casinos which it would be normal that they should follow on any regulation that would be imposed
or set by the government once they do decide on running off their business on this country.

[alegotardo]

A gambling platform headquartered in the Philippines called Philippines Offshore Gaming Operations (POGO) provides gambling, betting, and E-casinos outside of the nation. Many POGO companies operate legally in the Philippines by submitting license applications to PAGCOR, but some people run POGO illegally, which is why many legal offshore gaming operations are branded as illegal. If the government shuts down this operation, many Filipinos will lose their jobs and the Philippine economy will suffer a loss of several billion pesos.

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1672432/pogos-not-linked-to-illegal-online-gaming-says-pagcor

In my opinion, the POGO sector helps many Filipinos meet their basic needs and stimulates the economy, but having so many unlicensed offshore gambling establishments will harm the Philippines government's reputation.

As bad as closing these businesses can be for certain people, I believe the laws need to be followed.
In many countries gambling is not even allowed, so... in a country that is "benefited" with being allowed to exist, it is valid to at least have a license and operate legally.
I don't know the details... whether the license and taxes levied by the government are fair, but operating underground is worse than complying with the law.

[blockman]

Philippine has made POGO legal, as they are licensed by the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR).

But the problem is, there are some POGO that runs illegally in the country, and most of them are run in secretly, but nevertheless, you will hear reports about the police raiding them and mostly they are illegal so what the authorities do is to send them back home to China.

I know that there is much that the government can do about those who are going to lose their jobs, but as some point they have to draw the line here. The economic benefits is outweight by what is going on behind the scene, killings and kidnappings and corruptions.

Even the Chinese government are totally against it, so why not the Philippine government do that as well?

True, many of them have been running illegally and they're just renting condominium units and that's why those rent prices near Pasay/MOA have increased a lot.
But since the government of us now trying to take down many of them, there's also a decrease in income for most of those establishments that are benefiting from it. It's better to be legal than to operate illegally because many of those workers are also Chinese folks that have tourist visas and are considered also illegal immigrant workers. News is all around about many of them being departed.

[harizen]

POGO is technically legal as long as these gambling companies comply with all the necessary needs to make their operation legal. For a gambling-friendly country like the Philippines or any other, of course, the only allowed gambling companies to operate are only those who have the required license that was being approved by PAGCOR.

The problem is not the POGO itself but it's usual to see that there are lots of gambling companies that operate illegally. These companies, since not regulated, are saving their asses in paying taxes and they also compete with legal gambling operations.

There might be some corruption too that's why some illegal gambling companies can operate under the shadows and that's where the problem starts.

[AmoreJaz]

POGO is technically legal as long as these gambling companies comply with all the necessary needs to make their operation legal. For a gambling-friendly country like the Philippines or any other, of course, the only allowed gambling companies to operate are only those who have the required license that was being approved by PAGCOR.

The problem is not the POGO itself but it's usual to see that there are lots of gambling companies that operate illegally. These companies, since not regulated, are saving their asses in paying taxes and they also compete with legal gambling operations.

There might be some corruption too that's why some illegal gambling companies can operate under the shadows and that's where the problem starts.

exactly what you said, definitely there is corruption involved why the existence of illegal gambling companies. because they won't be encouraged to do their business illegally if no one will back-up their business. so for me, they can exist so long they are complying with their government protocols.

[avikz]

A gambling platform headquartered in the Philippines called Philippines Offshore Gaming Operations (POGO) provides gambling, betting, and E-casinos outside of the nation. Many POGO companies operate legally in the Philippines by submitting license applications to PAGCOR, but some people run POGO illegally, which is why many legal offshore gaming operations are branded as illegal. If the government shuts down this operation, many Filipinos will lose their jobs and the Philippine economy will suffer a loss of several billion pesos.

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1672432/pogos-not-linked-to-illegal-online-gaming-says-pagcor

In my opinion, the POGO sector helps many Filipinos meet their basic needs and stimulates the economy, but having so many unlicensed offshore gambling establishments will harm the Philippines government's reputation.

It's really not great when a licensed sector has to battle with unlicensed entities. But this is something where only government can intervene and stop such activities from being carried out. Because at the end of the day, it is affecting the tax revenue of the government itself. They can easily monitor and block the offshore gambling platforms in their country by installing a firewall just the way China is doing it. I believe that will help the country in scoring more gambling revenue from their own licensed entities and its effect will be seen and the benefits will be realized in an immediate basis. Unlicensed gambling is indeed a problem in the crypto sector as well.

[Plaguedeath]

It's not POGO's fault, but those people who run POGO illegally. It's similar like Bitcoin is created to break a relation with any third parties since we can send our Bitcoin by peer to peer, but many fraudster using Bitcoin as money laundering. POGO is legal, I don't think Philippine's government will shutting down POGO because they're get a lot money from POGO and it's used for their expenditure. If they're lack of money, their plan would be ruined.

[Yatsan]

A gambling platform headquartered in the Philippines called Philippines Offshore Gaming Operations (POGO) provides gambling, betting, and E-casinos outside of the nation. Many POGO companies operate legally in the Philippines by submitting license applications to PAGCOR, but some people run POGO illegally, which is why many legal offshore gaming operations are branded as illegal. If the government shuts down this operation, many Filipinos will lose their jobs and the Philippine economy will suffer a loss of several billion pesos.

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1672432/pogos-not-linked-to-illegal-online-gaming-says-pagcor

In my opinion, the POGO sector helps many Filipinos meet their basic needs and stimulates the economy, but having so many unlicensed offshore gambling establishments will harm the Philippines government's reputation.

Quite sad with the action by the government. Instead of focusing to those which are not registered to PAGCOR, they chose to consider removing every POGO firms in the country which I think is unfair because there are those who complied but they were also caught by the tension to those who illegaly operates. Indeed there would be families to be affected by doing so, and I hope things would be balanced.

But on my personal viewpoint, Philippines cannot really forcefully stop POGOs because the government benefit from it. That's how simple it is; things could be worked out as long as it generates money, sad to say. So maybe, bias would go to those registered POGOs to continue operating in Philippines. In my opinion, it is like with vaping and cigarette industries in PH wherein even if government are against it, they cannot stop its production because it has the largest contribution with taxation. And I believe it could go as well with POGOs.

[AicecreaME]

POGO helps many Filipinos to make the ends meet because of this industry. If the government will declare it illegal and ban it in the Philippines, surely, a lot of Filipinos will go unemployed which will make the unemployment rate higher, making a higher percentage of individuals relying on the help of the government aide alone. There are legally operating POGO in the Philippines already. What needs to be done instead of banning it is imposing strict regulations on POGO to determine which ones are the one legally operating their business and which isn't.

Of course, if POGO has a permit to operate legally speaking, they must have the documents that allows them to do so such as business and tax permits. Tax is one of the revenues of funds of the government as well so they really must look thoroughly so other can't evade taxation. In addition, POGO's should be monitored closely because there are some POGOs which conducts illegal activities such as scamming and phishing as their bread and butter. In illegally operating POGOs there are even human trafficking happening and some of the employees are not compensated well which makes it a nightmare instead of a blessing.

[Daltonik]

A gambling platform headquartered in the Philippines called Philippines Offshore Gaming Operations (POGO) provides gambling, betting, and E-casinos outside of the nation. Many POGO companies operate legally in the Philippines by submitting license applications to PAGCOR, but some people run POGO illegally, which is why many legal offshore gaming operations are branded as illegal. If the government shuts down this operation, many Filipinos will lose their jobs and the Philippine economy will suffer a loss of several billion pesos.

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1672432/pogos-not-linked-to-illegal-online-gaming-says-pagcor

In my opinion, the POGO sector helps many Filipinos meet their basic needs and stimulates the economy, but having so many unlicensed offshore gambling establishments will harm the Philippines government's reputation.

Of course, on the one hand, the government wants to control the flows of illegal gambling operators in their opinion, and if you can't control it, then you just start banning it, but the article still says that these companies have the opportunity to legalize after passing a check. But since illegal gambling often has a criminal connotation, not all gambling operators registered in POGO will also receive a license in Pagcor.