Despite Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.'s announcement of a total ban on online gambling, Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO) are still in operation, having established bases in the Visayas and Mindanao islands, where enforcement is not as strict as in Luzon.
PAOCC spokesperson and director Winston Casio reported that the agency has received reports of at least 58 to as many as 300 gambling centers still operating.
"We see many of them have come to Cebu. We also have some reports that many are in Iloilo, and now many have reached Mindanao," he added.
On August 31, a joint task force of the Philippine National Bureau of Investigation (PAOCC), the Armed Forces of the Philippines, the Philippine Transnational Crime Center, and the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking raided an illegal POGO at a hotel resort in Lapu-Lapu City, Cebu Island.
The raid rescued 162 foreigners, most of whom were Indonesians. Authorities also arrested the suspected owner of the illegal POGO, a Chinese citizen named Zao Lao.
