Philippine National Police forms task force to crack down on illegal POGO operations amid industry review
In response to growing calls to shut down the offshore gaming industry, the Philippine National Police (PNP) has formed a task force to crack down on illegal POGO operations.
According to PhilStar, just days after PAGCOR Chairman and CEO Alejandro Tengco said the regulatory ban was issued, Philippine National Police Chief Rommel Francisco Marbil announced the formation of the task force.
"We formed a task force to work with other agencies to address this issue," Marbil said at the launch of the task force, called Task Force Skinner.
According to PhilStar, the task force is divided into three divisions - administration, intelligence and operations - and includes contributions from various units of the Philippine National Police, such as the Operations Bureau, Anti-Cybercrime Group, Anti-Kidnapping Group, etc.
Brigadier General Nicholas Salvador said: “Through STF Skimmer, the Philippine National Police will disrupt illegal POGOs by gathering intelligence, conducting coordinated enforcement operations and taking legal action to uphold the law, protect the vulnerable and safeguard national security.”
Illegal POGOs are under scrutiny after police recently raided two compounds in Tarlac and Pampanga and found evidence of human trafficking and other criminal activity. In Tarlac, former Bamban mayor Alice Guo was accused of secretly supporting POGO efforts to avoid detection.
Meanwhile, PAGCOR has been working to clean up the industry, renaming POGOs Internet Gaming Licensees (IGLs) and requiring all existing licensees to undergo a thorough re-licensing process. This has reduced the number of licensed IGLs from a peak of 298 to just 43.
