Pogo ‘handled pretty well’, still not a security threat – NSC official

The Philippine offshore gaming operator (Pogo) is still not a national security threat, according to a National Security Council (NSC) official, believing that “[r]ight now, the issue is handled pretty well” by the government. INQUIRER.net FILE PHOTO

At the Senate committee on ways and means hearing on Tuesday, NSC Assistant Director General Francis Jude Lauengco said they are satisfied with the government’s initiatives in terms of addressing problems surrounding Pogo.

The Senate committee on ways and means was conducting a hearing on the Anti-Online Gambling Act.

“Right now, the issue is handled pretty well, we are satisfied with how this is being handled by our law enforcement and regulatory agencies,” the NSC official said.

READ: Pogo not a ‘national security threat’ that needs military intervention – Año

Lauengco was replying to Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian’s query on what’s taking NSC so long to declare Pogo as a national security threat.

Gatchalian, who chairs the Senate committee on ways and means, stressed that all “fingerprints of a national security threat are there and all of those are pointing to Pogos as the origin of those circumstances.”

“So in my mind – ano pang hinihintay natin (what are we waiting for)? What are we still waiting for to elevate it into a national security threat?” the senator asked.

But Lauengco cited National Security Advisor Eduardo Año’s earlier pronouncement that Pogos are not yet a national security threat, but a national security concern.

“I am taking from the statement of the National Security Advisor when he mentioned that the response to this does not yet have to include the drastic responses, for example, involving the Armed Forces of the Philippines in addressing national security threats like the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army and even terrorist threats,” explained Lauengco.

“This is where I am coming from – from the statement already given by the NSC [in] this regard,” he also said.

READ: Hontiveros: Why is gov’t having a hard time taking action vs Pogos?

Lauengco, however, said the NSC supports the passage of laws that would criminalize illegal Pogos and totally ban illicit offshore gaming and internet gaming licensees (IGLs) in the country.

“We have seen, as presented by the chair, the initial presentation – we have seen the extent of criminal activities being conducted in some of the IGLs and Pogo facilities particularly human trafficking, cyber fraud, prostitution [among others],” said Lauengco.

“Which to us has become a very serious national concern that [is] now being addressed by the appropriate law enforcement agencies and Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission, the Criminal Investigation and Detection group, and also by the appropriate regulatory agency such as Pagcor,” he emphasized.

Earlier, the Senate panel on women headed by Sen. Risa Hontiveros urged the NSC to raise before President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. that Pogos are a threat to national security.

The call was made in an executive session where panel members and high ranking security officials tackled suspended Bamban Mayor Alice Guo’s alleged connection to Pogos.