PH Senator pushes a Ban to POGOs and All Sort of Online Gambling...

[Wind_FURY]

I agree with what you said and it's the best possible course for this problem to be cured.
Banning will only make the illegal gambling sites do it in the shadows which means the government will not tax them. That's the worst outcome in what they are trying to do now and I don't think they have any idea how much money is coming in from all these gambling sites.

👍

That's absolutely right. But the beautiful situation that could be built on top of that is, it's an opportunity for censorship-resistant tech like Bitcoin to be utilized as a result of the "government ban". If all of online gambling is truly banned in your country, use that as an opportunity to teach and encourage people about Bitcoin.

But my personal viewpoint is it shouldn't matter what or who is right. We have Bitcoin as a currency to use for gambling if there's truly an absolute ban in each of our countries.

Sadly, the bill which this OP raised regarding our country ban includes online gambling regardless of the currency use such as Bitcoin. Our senators is convinced that any form of online gambling is harmful since it’s widely promoted in social media especially on facebook which many influencers do livestream or insert gambling clip to their content at the end of the video.

I doubt that this law will be successful since there’s a lot of influential people involved on this business which the Philippines government getting support.

That's the point. How can the government of your country stop the use of Bitcoin? It can't shut it down, it can't ban all of the full nodes, they would need to shut off your country from the public internet.

[TheUltraElite]

This has to be due to something related to taxation of POGOs. Government there does collect taxes but maybe they are not coughing up enough need to cover it. Due to this they are attempting to ban them. These things are often temporary and they will try to reestablish legal operations soon after some bribery to pay off this. Eventually they will move to illegal operations to continue the flow of money.

Nothing much we can do about it, for addicted gamblers who might feel bad, they will just use casinos other then ones by POGOs. Laws like these only make the news, eventually they get changed. So keep calm and continue playing.

[acroman08]

This has to be due to something related to taxation of POGOs. Government there does collect taxes but maybe they are not coughing up enough need to cover it. Due to this they are attempting to ban them. These things are often temporary and they will try to reestablish legal operations soon after some bribery to pay off this. Eventually they will move to illegal operations to continue the flow of money.

Nothing much we can do about it, for addicted gamblers who might feel bad, they will just use casinos other then ones by POGOs. Laws like these only make the news, eventually they get changed. So keep calm and continue playing.

I think it is more about the concern for national security, there have been a lot of Chinese doing illegal activities in the Philippines who are usually connected to one of the companies in POGO. right now there is even a case going on against a government official(a mayor) in the Philippines who is suspected of being a Chinese spy and having a connection to POGO companies and POGO-related crimes.

POGO could really be good for the Philippines if the government handles it properly and does not let stupid corrupt officials manage it.

[Kemarit]

This has to be due to something related to taxation of POGOs. Government there does collect taxes but maybe they are not coughing up enough need to cover it. Due to this they are attempting to ban them. These things are often temporary and they will try to reestablish legal operations soon after some bribery to pay off this. Eventually they will move to illegal operations to continue the flow of money.

Nothing much we can do about it, for addicted gamblers who might feel bad, they will just use casinos other then ones by POGOs. Laws like these only make the news, eventually they get changed. So keep calm and continue playing.

I think it is more about the concern for national security, there have been a lot of Chinese doing illegal activities in the Philippines who are usually connected to one of the companies in POGO. right now there is even a case going on against a government official(a mayor) in the Philippines who is suspected of being a Chinese spy and having a connection to POGO companies and POGO-related crimes.

POGO could really be good for the Philippines if the government handles it properly and does not let stupid corrupt officials manage it.

Yes, I also had the same impression that this is just a front for the Chinese to infiltrate the Philippines in case that there will be a arm conflict between the two nations. Those building are huge with underground and so they will really need to be strict as to who can enter their countries specially Chinese. And now that one mayor has been suspended if I'm not mistaken as she is proven to be Chinese, maybe a mole and a protector of this Pogo hub.

So you can't blame the Philippine government for acting this way. Maybe this is temporary or it could really be the end of this POGO in the country and then start accounting everything before it got out of hand.

[bisdak40]

Yes, I also had the same impression that this is just a front for the Chinese to infiltrate the Philippines in case that there will be a arm conflict between the two nations. Those building are huge with underground and so they will really need to be strict as to who can enter their countries specially Chinese. And now that one mayor has been suspended if I'm not mistaken as she is proven to be Chinese, maybe a mole and a protector of this Pogo hub.

So you can't blame the Philippine government for acting this way. Maybe this is temporary or it could really be the end of this POGO in the country and then start accounting everything before it got out of hand.

With all the events happening right now in our country, i do hope that they would end this POGO, the Chinese were using this to infiltrate our country so end this thing before it will be out of control. Anyways, the money we get from POGO is not important at the moment, the important for the Philippines right to is to get rid of the Chinese people who are in our country as they might be used if the conflict in the West Philippine sea escalate into further chaos.

[kotajikikox]

The proposed bill is due to the recent illegal POGO raids where human trafficking, murder, and money laundering were uncovered. Due to this, one of the Philippine senators believes that the best move is to ban POGOs and online gambling all in all and punish any person who is involved in online gambling activity if the bill is approved.

POGO seemed to be only a cover up for the other illegal activities prompted by different kinds of authorities. This definitely gives off a bad image to any kinds of gambling in the country. Which is a shame because the country could benefit economically from online gambling.

I hope they can find a balance between ensuring legal and safe gambling without eradicating all kinds of gambling in the process.

[wxa7115]

This is very bad for the people who love online gambling in the Philippines.  A senator of the Philippines proposes a Bill to ban all Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (POGO) and all kinds of Online Gambling.  Any individual involved  will be fined  up to Php500k(US$8,536) or imprisoned for up to six months.

edited

The proposed bill is due to the recent illegal POGO raids where human trafficking, murder, and money laundering were uncovered. Due to this, one of the Philippine senators believes that the best move is to ban POGOs and online gambling all in all and punish any person who is involved in online gambling activity if the bill is approved.

In my personal view, I do not think there is a need to ban POGO's and online gambling.  This is not the fault of a regular individual but the institution behind the gambling regulatory board.  Instead of banning and penalizing people who are engaged in gambling activities, the bill should strengthen the regulation and purge the institution of any corrupt official that allows these illegal activities to proliferate.  He should implement a bill that will severely punish any government official that engage in illegal gambling activities. Banning POGOs and online gambling is like taking the easiest way out and depriving the Philippine government of the possible revenue that can be generated from these ventures and as if this kind of bill will prevent illegal gambling from existing in a country. I hope this kind of bill won't progress instead take an alternative implementation of cleansing the gambling regulatory board of any corrupt official and holding them accountable for their wicked crimes.

What about you do you think banning offshore gambling operators and online gambling will solve the spread of illegal gambling activities in a country?

This is easy to do on paper, as it is easy to pass a law like that when those illegal events have happened, but it is a completely different thing to actually implement that kind of law.

People are going to gamble even if gambling is made illegal, so the only thing this law will do is to give that business to the organized crime, which in return will make a fortune with it, as they do not have to respect any kind of regulation, so the government will go from earning money from the taxes being generated by the gambling industry, to spend a fortune trying to fight those criminal organizations.

[Casdinyard]

This is very bad for the people who love online gambling in the Philippines.  A senator of the Philippines proposes a Bill to ban all Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (POGO) and all kinds of Online Gambling.  Any individual involved  will be fined  up to Php500k(US$8,536) or imprisoned for up to six months. More story on the link below:

Philippines senator pushes for banning POGOs, all forms of online gambling



The proposed bill is due to the recent illegal POGO raids where human trafficking, murder, and money laundering were uncovered. Due to this, one of the Philippine senators believes that the best move is to ban POGOs and online gambling all in all and punish any person who is involved in online gambling activity if the bill is approved.

In my personal view, I do not think there is a need to ban POGO's and online gambling.  This is not the fault of a regular individual but the institution behind the gambling regulatory board.  Instead of banning and penalizing people who are engaged in gambling activities, the bill should strengthen the regulation and purge the institution of any corrupt official that allows these illegal activities to proliferate.  He should implement a bill that will severely punish any government official that engage in illegal gambling activities. Banning POGOs and online gambling is like taking the easiest way out and depriving the Philippine government of the possible revenue that can be generated from these ventures and as if this kind of bill will prevent illegal gambling from existing in a country. I hope this kind of bill won't progress instead take an alternative implementation of cleansing the gambling regulatory board of any corrupt official and holding them accountable for their wicked crimes.

What about you do you think banning offshore gambling operators and online gambling will solve the spread of illegal gambling activities in a country?

I mean, this is like hitting two birds with one stone. Here in the Philippines we're faced with the constant fear that China may just attack us any time of the day, with the recent pressure they are exerting against the West Philippine Sea and nearby territories. With most Chinese Sleeper Agents (this is confirmed by the government) acting as POGO workers from overseas, this is a great way to really pressure the hand of China and make them think twice about assimilating themselves upon the Filipino people.

Plus we're also receiving quite a massive concern with the way that gambling is sensationalized and normalized in our country. A lot of people and content creators here are tempted with the promise of a large sum of money for little to no effort in exchange for getting sponsored on a casino that is not signed to our gambling committee. This not only breaks the law, but also inadvertently subjects people who are down on their luck, and in some worse cases even minors into getting into gambling.

So yeah, smart move if I do say so myself. I'm a gambler at heart and while this will make me stop doing what I loved doing for years now, I wouldn't mind if it means we get a massive benefit out of it.