The Philippines Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) has mandated an inquiry into the Alien Employment Permits (AEPs) granted to foreign individuals employed in Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO) firms.

The Philippine gaming regulator PAGCOR is facing a tough challenge from opponents of offshore gaming operators, battling uphill to prove their worth amongst a spate of recent raids and arrests. A top lawyer breaks down how a full POGO ban could come about, and other opportunities the regulator is exploring.

Although a stricter regulatory framework has been implemented in the country, the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) is still under heavy scrutiny and pressure to prove that it has the ability to supervise and regulate IGLs (formerly POGOs), says industry lawyer Marie Antonette Quiogue

Philippine senator Sherwin Gatchalian is pushing the nation’s Bureau of Internal Revenue to keep a ‘tight reign on the issuance of tax identification number IDs’ as such TINs are ‘being obtained by Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs) involved in various criminal activities to legitimize the employment status of their workers’.

Philippine senator Sherwin Gatchalian has called for an investigation into the possible involvement of the recently shuttered company behind a Philippine Offshore Gaming Operation (POGO) operation in other alleged crimes and offenses.

The chief of police of the Philippines’ Pasay City has been relieved of duty, alongside some 26 other police officers, in an investigation into a Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (POGO) accused of human trafficking and illegal operations which authorities raided last month.

Philippine senators have once again emphasized their call for a comprehensive ban on Philippine offshore gambling operators (POGO) in the wake of a raid on a sex trafficking ring in Pasay City, near Manila.

In Pasay City, a Philippine Overseas Gaming Operation (POGO) company faced a weekend crackdown by an anti-human trafficking task force, led by the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) and the Department of Justice.

The Philippine Justice Secretary has called the round-up of Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (POGO) suspects a ‘logistical nightmare’.

The Philippine National Police (PNP) have reported that some 4,039 individuals have been victims of crimes relating to Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs) in the first half of this year.