Pogo bosses may be still in PH – Hontiveros
Sen. Risa Hontiveros. —File photo by Noy Morcoso | INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines — Philippine offshore gaming operator (Pogo) bosses may have not left the country after all, Sen. Risa Hontiveros said on Wednesday.
At the “Kapihan sa Senado” forum, the opposition senator said the presence of these high-ranking Pogo officials was the reason why illegal Pogo hubs were still operating in the country.
“Those Pogo bosses are probably still here. They have yet to leave because they are still overseeing Pogo operations that have morphed into smaller and guerilla-like operations,” Hontieveros said in Filipino.
In 2024, Hontiveros already flagged the “alarming trend” of emerging guerilla-like scam operations which allegedly took over from illegal Pogos in the country.
But apart from these so-called guerilla-like scam operations, Hontiveros likewise disclosed that there is now a new modus being used by these illegal firms to lure Filipinos into their illegal operations.
“They use travel ads at the start. But for those who signify interest, they will be asked to sign in and they will be recruited to what are scam operations,” Hontiveros said.
In the same presser, the senator sounded the alarm over the supposed resurgence of text scams believed to be linked to Pogos.
She said this was a concern that some individuals had regained a “secure footing” to reinvent Pogos.
“Apart from these scam text messages being a huge nuisance, it’s very worrying because it might be a sign that Pogos have once again landed on their feet,” Hontiveros said.
In his third State of the Nation Address in July 2024, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. ordered the ban of all Pogos in the country. He then ordered Pagcor to wind down and seize the operations of these firms by the end of the year.
READ: Marcos: ‘All Pogos are banned!’
READ: Some Pogos skirt ban, move operations to Visayas, Mindanao – PAOCC
But since the presidential ban, Pogo hubs were reported to have begun resorting to various ways to conceal their operations. Some even pretend to be business process outsourcing firms.
