Cebu City, Philippines — The local government will conduct a thorough investigation of the capital's electronic gaming and internet entertainment centers to ensure they are not used as fronts for Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO).
Acting Mayor Raymond Alvin Garcia stated at a press conference on Tuesday that the Business Permit and Licensing Office (BPLO) is collaborating with the Cebu City Police Office to inspect these gaming centers.
Garcia said: "While we cannot guarantee the absence of online gambling companies, our inspections (at call centers) reveal that electronic and internet gaming are common in this city."
According to Garcia, the BPLO and local police found that online gamers were self-isolating in an environment, but their operations were not POGO, and their business registrations were legal.
The BPLO reported that no institution here was registered as a POGO by its operators.
"You can see computers there. But they are legal. However, we just make sure they do not engage in any illegal activities like POGO," he added.
Before Garcia made these statements, the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission and other law enforcement agencies raided a POGO center in Barangay Agus, Lapu-Lapu City, rescuing 162 foreigners and 10 Filipino women.
In response to President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.'s directive in his third State of the Nation Address in July to ban all POGOs in the country, Garcia ordered the BPLO and local police to monitor and apprehend call centers possibly operated by POGO.
