A Philippine senator who has long been critical of the presence of offshore gaming operators in the country has cited statistics to reiterate that the industry’s overall contribution to public finances is not “huge”.
Gatchalian (cover photo), chairman of the Senate Ways and Means Committee that oversees public revenue raising, said in an update to his website, referring to Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators: “POGOs have been lobbying to try to create a situation where they can generate significant revenue. impression, but this is not the case.”
On July 22, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr said POGOs, now known as Internet Gaming Licensees (IGLs), need to wind down their operations in the country by the end of the year.
Senator Gatchalian said offshore network operators had remitted Php 10.32 billion ($177.1 million) to the government based on actual revenue reported by the Philippine Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) in 2023.
In comparison, the country's gaming regulator, the Philippine Gaming and Entertainment Corporation (Pagcor), earned PHP 5.17 billion in revenue from the industry in 2023, he said.
Based on the average annual growth rate of the POGO industry, the BIR’s revenue from POGOs is expected to reach PhP16.08 billion this year, while Pagcor’s revenue from the industry is expected to reach PhP5.95 billion this year.
During a Senate hearing in late July, Philippine Gaming Corporation Chairman Alejandro Tengco said the Philippine government would lose about Php23 billion annually from license fees and maritime operator taxes. There are currently 43 licensed companies operating, he added.
Catalino Alano, Pagcor’s vice president of external communications, said in a recent written response to GGRAsia: “Financially, the decision to ban POGOs will have a minimal impact on the Philippine gaming industry, as this segment accounts for less than 5% of total gaming revenue. "
Nonetheless, Mr. Tengco suggested in a recent interview with ABS-CBN News that as many as 14 business-to-business (B2B) service companies should be exempted from the country’s ban on online offshore gaming operations.
These companies hold business process outsourcing (BPO) licenses to provide services to offshore online operators but do not provide business-to-consumer services themselves. He said these BPOs employ more than 9,000 Filipinos.
In an article posted on his website, Senator Gatchalian noted that based on data obtained by the Department of Labor from Philippine Gaming Corporation, the entire offshore online gaming industry employs 25,064 local workers.
Gatchalian wrote that the Senate Ways and Means Committee is pushing legislation to ensure that the ban on Philippine online gaming remains in effect beyond the term of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., which ends in June 2028.
Gatchalian has previously said that local government units, or local government units, across the country play an important role in monitoring "illegal" activities of existing POGOs.
