POGO WORKERS composite image from Inquirer file and stock photos
MANILA, Philippines — While many Filipinos welcomed the announcement of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in his third State of the Nation Address (Sona) to totally ban the Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (Pogos) in the country, many expressed their concern that the “supposed” rebranding of Pogo will not have its operation entirely prohibited.
Some netizens on X (formerly Twitter) took note of the resurfacing reports about Pogos being renamed as Internet Gaming Licensee (IGL), saying that the order to ban is just a facade so the operations can continue.
READ: Marcos bans Pogo, cites ‘disorder’ it caused PH
“Ba’t pa inapprove ung banned ng Pogo eh nagrebrand nmn pala… If criminal ako at nagpalit ako ng name will my crimes previously suddenly disappear?” said X user.
(Why would the ban on Pogo be approved if they were rebranded? If I was a criminal and I changed my name, would my previous crimes suddenly disappear?)
“The deception never ends. And standing ovation for what? Continued sautéing in our own oil?” added another X user.
An X user also said that “Wala na raw Pogo. Eh ano yung INTERNET GAMING LICENSE. Kapag may IGL pa rin alam na!” (They said there’s no more Pogo, but what about the INTERNET GAMING LICENSE. If there’s still IGL, you already know it!) posting a screenshot of an article from Inside Asian Gaming in October 2023 that quoted Tengco saying that “there will be 55 to 65 licenses issued and there will no longer be service provider licenses, it will just be an IGL license.”
“POGO NO, IGL YES. This is similar to banning pork barrel and then creating PDAF. Change the name but not the substance,” another X user posted.
In a session of the Committee on Public Order and Safety on illegal Pogos on July 17, Tengco was asked to differentiate Pogo and IGL.
“Ang ginawa po namin para maalis na nga ‘yong stigma ng mga kalokohan at criminal activities, noong July 2023, pinalitan na po namin ‘yong pangalan. Ang tawag po sa mga lisensyado ngayon na legal na nagpapatakbo ng gaming activities or gaming businesses, ang tawag na po sa kanila ay IGL or internet gaming licensees,” Tengco answered.
(What we did to remove the stigma on criminal activities, in July 2023, we changed its name. What are now called licensed and legally operating gaming activities and businesses are IGL or internet gaming licensees.)
Tengco added that this includes having new gaming regulations on offshore gaming. He said that while legal IGLs and legal Pogos are the same, their structure is different.
“‘Yong dati pong Pogong legal, mayroon po silang 10 sublicensees. Ngayon po, bawal na ‘yon… Mayroon pa pong sinasabi na ‘yong legal licensee noong araw, P5,000,000 lang ang kapital. Ngayon po, itinaas na po sa P100,000,000 para mawala na po ‘yong fly by night hopefully,” he said.
(The previous legal Pogo had 10 sublicensees. It is not allowed now. The old legal licensee should have P5,000,000 as a capital but we now raised it to P100,000,000 to get rid of fly by night, hopefully.)
READ: Salceda says Pagcor is modernizing policies, enforcing rules on Pogo
In June, Albay 2nd District Representative said that Pagcor has been modernizing its policies, adding that “the licensing regulations on offshore gaming, now known as internet gaming licensees under Pagcor’s revised rules, have significantly improved revenue collections despite also reducing the number of total licensees.”
As of July 16, 2024, 38 internet gaming licensees were granted regular licenses while seven were given provisional licenses.
Following the order of Marcos on the total ban of Pogos in the country, Salceda in an interview with reporters on Monday said that he hopes that the ban will not affect the new IGLs.
“It’s an executive discretion. The key there is that Pogo is just part, small part of a bigger pie called IGL, which is the internet gaming licenses, that’s 43 percent of Pagcor.”
READ: I hope they find way to ban Pogo without affecting IGLs – Salceda
Salcedo also added that he hopes the government can differentiate IGLs from pogos, adding that “IGLs are legitimate, so I just hope that they will find a technical way of differentiating Pogos and IGLs — ‘di na nga nila nagawa na ma-differentiate ‘yong illegal at saka legal Pogo, ‘yon pa kayang legitimate IGL at saka the entire Pogo system, some of which are very legitimate.”
(IGLs are legitimate, so I hope that they will find a technical way of differentiating Pogos and IGLs — they can’t even differentiate illegal and legal Pogos, what more in the legitimate IGL and the entire Pogo system, some of which are very legitimate.)