Behind the three data charts, why is Xiao Ma determined to "ban POGO"? The answer is very realistic.

Philippine President Marcos is increasingly taking a tough stance on POGO (Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators), not on a whim, but because he "calculated and found it unprofitable":

1. The national tax revenue is too low, and the money is being earned by the Chinese.

Although POGO pays billions of pesos in taxes each year, it accounts for a very low proportion in the national financial plate. The platform owners and operating teams behind it are mostly Chinese, with technology, profits, and commissions mostly flowing overseas.

Marcos does not value the small amount of tax; what he wants is—full control of the chain and local revenue.

2. Filipinos are starting to be bitten back by their own "exported drugs"

Initially, POGO targeted overseas markets, especially China; but as underground platforms proliferated and regulatory vacuums emerged, local Filipino users also began to fall deep into it.

Filipinos bet using GCash on mobile phones

Social media is filled with gambling groups

Billboards on the streets are replaced with "high odds" and "instant account crediting"

A business model aimed at the outside is biting back at the country's social structure.

3. The cost of local security and public opinion is getting higher

Gambling-related kidnappings, murders, and illegal detentions are frequent

Local people are extremely resentful towards "foreign gambling companies"

POGO has become the government and police's "most difficult gray area to explain"

Marcos cannot continue to allow this image to be torn apart; he does not want to be seen as a president "working for foreign black money."